Luderitz, Namibia to Walvis Bay, Namibia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Mon 10 Dec 2012 10:02
|
24:30.190S 14:17.368E
December 10, 2012
It was the perfect midnight sail.
The sky was moonless, but clear and full of stars, and the
wind was blowing just enough from behind to fill the genoa and ballooner poled
out to either side, pushing us along at 7 knots and gently rocking the
off-watch crew member to sleep.
Then, the wind died, the flapping genoa knocked the
steaming light off its mast mount for the third time this year, the clouds moved
in, the ballooner head (top of sail) came loose causing the sail to slowly
slide down the foil, and the steering jammed.
But not necessarily in that order.
In fact, at about midnight, after switching from one autopilot
(Autohelm 7000) to the other (Autohelm 6000) as we normally do every 12
hours, Don noticed the 6000 wasn't working quite right. He switched back
to the 7000 and found it wasn't any better. The problem wasn't either
autopilot, but the steering mechanism itself. After spending an hour or
two (again, in the dark - this time investigating the steering mechanism
through the access panel above the galley sink as well as the rudder
quadrant assembly located under our bed in the stern cabin) diagnosing the
problem and attempting to fix it, Don came to the conclusion that the steering
mechanism wasn't working properly, and couldn't easily be investigated
further while under way. Luckily, the Autohelm 6000 is set up
such that it is directly connected to the rudder quadrant, so Don
adeptly disconnected the steering mechanism from the rudder quadrant, leaving
the Autohelm 6000 in place such that it is now doing all the steering for us
(and the wheel at the helm is doing nothing). To do this, we furled the
two head sails up together and drifted in the light wind and waves for
about twenty minutes while Don worked under the bed (the bed can
easily be propped up, thankfully) to disconnect the steering mechanism from
the rudder quadrant. Bob's your uncle and presto! we had proper control of
the rudder again.
Don retired at 4am and by 6 the clouds had moved in, the wind
died, the flapping genoa knocked the steaming light off its mount and the
ballooner began to slide down the foil. I fired up the engine, and woke
Don to help get the ballooner the rest of the way down, bring in the two
poles and furl the genoa. We've been motoring ever since under a
completely overcast sky, little wind and mostly flat seas. So much
for the perfect midnight sail.
So, now what?
Well, the problem with the steering mechanism will have to be
addressed as neither one of us are keen on the idea of crossing the Atlantic
(~5,200 miles) relying solely on the Autohelm 6000 to steer for us. Of
course, if anything happened to the autopilot, we still have the emergency
tiller that could be rigged up in the cockpit for hand steering, but we'd
prefer to have a functioning steering mechanism and two usable autopilots for
such a long trip. We'll know more after Don has a chance to investigate
further - which will probably happen after our arrival in Walvis Bay tomorrow
morning (Tuesday, 12/11). The good news is Walvis Bay is a large
commercial port with reportedly lots of 'good German engineering'. We also
have lots of time with no immigration or customs pressure for at least three
months (not that we think we'll be here that long), so if we have to wait for
parts to be shipped in, it won't be a problem.
As far as the cloudy sky, lack of wind, dangling steaming
light and falling ballooner go - no worries. The wind should fill in again
in a few hours and blow away the clouds, the steaming light can continue to
dangle for all we care, and the ballooner will be fine when we re-launch it for
what we hope is the perfect afternoon, evening and midnight sail.
More after our arrival in Walvis Bay tomorrow.
Anne
|