Sunday 21 June, 2015 – The Summer Solstice!

North Atlantic Ocean 45.10.4N 25 02.5W

Today's Blog by David  (Time zone: BST; UTC +1)

Day three of our final ocean passage,  homeward bound.  We are already so far north that we are on a parallel with Bordeaux, but sadly not yet east of the Azores!   The weather has behaved as forecast and, having found the wind, it is southerly – and plenty of it!  The cold front will come through tomorrow afternoon, it will dump on us and the wind will the veer and go light for about half a day.  Thereafter, it will fill in an blow us home – that’s the forecast at least …. and it’s the plan too!

We are going quite nicely but, being ever the pessimist, I am feeling something of a condemned man waiting for the inevitable gear failure which will make life difficult for us. There are several candidates. 

The Generator – This is the obvious risk  since we are now back on starboard gybe.   You may recall that it runs perfectly well on port, but on starboard tack there is an issue with the raw water flow that causes the generator to overheat.  To run it with some hope of it completing a charging cycle - without the impeller failing and causing an immediate shut down and then a couple of hours with my head under the cabin floor - involves a number of prayers and incantations into the bilge and some stroking of various cocks (….seacocks, that is):  

Peter and I  in supplication to the God Of All Impellers  ……..    ahead of seeking to charge the batteries

The Anchor Windlass – This is a new entry on the list – and self-evidently, this is not an item that is likely to prevent us sailing, but in Flores it was making some unpleasant graunching noises when in use and it seemed to lose strength/power.   We did take apart what we could but the issue/the noise seems to be in/coming from the electric motor. The noise when it was operated  was so bad that it discouraged us from using the windlass in Flores when we wanted to re-anchor (it became very rolly when the wind changed) for fear of its failing in use.  

Sixty metres of 13mm anchor chain with a 75lb anchor on the end would be something of a chore to raise without a windlass; we do have a plan but I really don’t want to have to execute it.  We want  to anchor only twice more before we get home. The windlass only has to work just once more ….. because we can cut it off and  leave both  the chain and anchor behind if we have to, buoyed for later recovery.  (To be fair, the chain is so rusty now that it needs replacing anyway – anywhere other than the popular anchorage of Newtown River and I wouldn’t seek to recover it!)

Other  -  there are a myriad of other things that could go wrong, some I have mentioned previously (freezer, microwave etc.)  but  there are plenty of other candidates too numerous to mention.  Anyway, “stuff happens” – best not to think about it!   Fingers crossed and all that …….

Meanwhile ….. a note from our fashion correspondent:

In the sunshine it is  still hot – too hot – and sun block is the order of the day - but the air temperature is now rather lower than it has been.  So  when the sun goes in, and especially at night,  it is quite cool. I haven’t yet seen long trousers on watch – even at night – but thermal jackets are in evidence …….  even in the sunshine! 

The cold front comes through tomorrow …….. that will sort the men out from the boys!

PS:   The water temperature is now 16.5^o C.  So,  no swimming off the back then!