10:52:1S 130:46:6E

 

Sunday 6th September 2015

 

The wind has increased a little and the swell shrunk, which means we are going a little better just over three knots. Not much faster, but no flogging sails which cause damage and wear our nerves constantly. Just a few loose screws on the spinnaker pole needed tightening this morning. The safety checks continue each day and between us hopefully Denis or I will spot something going wrong before it is a gear failure.

 

Last night I ran the engine, the wind had stopped and we were slowly drifting. Our batteries needed charging again, as we have chart plotter, gps and radio on 24/7 and navigation lights at night, the power slowly is eaten away. I took the opportunity to make more fresh water while the engine was on. The problem is, that we have limited fuel, and cannot afford to waste it motoring just because the wind has dropped. Our tank holds approx 220 litres and we use about 2.2 litres/hour. We make about 4-5 knots/hour with the engine on. I daren’t run the engine too low in case there is an emergency, plus when the wind blows we get air in the system if the fuel is too low, and the engine just conks out. So as you no doubt have worked out, we may have enough fuel if the tank were still full, but on the way up from Cairns we have used the jerry cans to top up and we now have about three quarters of a tank total. So we are being careful and using it sparingly.

 

 

Miles travelled in the last 24hrs: 83 miles

 

Miles to Darwin: 567 miles