Day 10...Spinnaker and Generator...followed by filet dinner!
19:41.3N 48:32.4W The seas have definitely flattened and the rolling and heeling is greatly reduced….finally! And yet we have now sailed 2096 miles, with about 780 miles yet to go. After the wind shifted around last night, we now expect the wind to be right behind us for the rest of the trip, creating great opportunity for speed and spinnaker, as we sail a course of 266 degrees directly for St. Lucia….we will motor if we need to, but we contemplate sailing the rest of the trip. As the pictures show, we made an attempt late yesterday to fly the kite, but the winds were too flukey…so, after about 2 hours, we took it down again! And then came a real challenge…the generator failed! It tripped out repeatedly with a high temperature condition…the generator is clearly the most critical piece of equipment aboard, since we need it to make water and charge our batteries (with the main engine being a backup)….and everything runs off battery power! For sailors interested…the raw water impeller was wiped out…with a quick change, we were back in operation. Of course you can see the mark on Paul’s back….and, of course the familiar “beatings will continues until morale improves” phrase dominated…he was actually “whiped” by a spinnaker line earlier in the day when it jumped position. Finally, with flat seas, Cap was able to prepare and serve up an exquisite dinner which we enjoyed on the table in the cockpit…hopefully, no more “meals in a bowl”! Yesterday was also “field day”, so chief bosun’s mate Eric directed the activities as we all engaged in cleaning activity…not so difficult to do when seas are flat. More history tomorrow! |