8th day at sea
NORDLYS
David and Annette Ridout
Wed 9 May 2007 00:33
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8th Day at sea. Good
progress.
14:26S 107:12E
0200hrs Wednesday 9th May
2007
We have now had two days of very good
progress. The trade winds are cycling between fifteen and twenty five
knots and we have run off just over and just under 170nm in the last two 24hr
periods. We have also been eco friendly as we have given up our
unproductive fishing and put out the tow generator. This device consists
of a propeller on a heavy steel shaft that is towed about 30 metres behind the
boat. Connected to a waterproof alternator hanging on a bracket at the
stern this covers our use of electricity. Fridge, auto pilot, lights,
instruments etc. As the boat accelerates and decelerates up and down the
waves the alternator gives a series of wheezes. When the boat hits
eight knots the propeller breaks the surface and gives a loud noise that could
only be compared to a farting sound. While all this is going on the cross
swells give the boat a fairly violent motion. This in turn causes the
halyards to slap inside the mast so really our progress could be described as an
endless series of hiss, roar, slap, wheeze, fart. Hiss, roar, slap,
wheeze, fart. I would not want you to think that trade wind sailing in the
Indian Ocean is all romantic sunsets and starry nights.
On top of this endless motion and noise we have
also had a little drama. For the first 24 hours the automatic bilge pump
went off rather more than I wanted. I put this down to the wet foredeck
and the fact that I had forgotten to plug the hawse pipe. With the
windlass under the well lashed dinghy the problem was not solvable in the short
term. When the wind went light and aft the problem went away.
However it had recurred over the last 48 hours and the foredeck is now nearly
dry with the wind behind us. With some trepidation I crawled head first to
the foot of my bunk, removed a cover and shone a torch into the dark area where
the stern tube is situated. To my delight the rudder bearing was not
leaking but there was water everywhere. Half an hour later and
the cockpit piled high with the contents of the stern locker I inserted
myself head first into this cavern. All the while we are powering along
before the strong breeze. The end result after much searching was to find
that the pipe that was connected to the bottom of the aluminium gas locker was
pouring water out of itself. This pipe was there to vent overboard any
escaping gas but whenever the boat heeled the exit went underwater and back
filled. This explains why I had often found the gas locker to be damp and
the gas bottles to tend to rust at the bottom. I could not find if the
leak was due to a lose connection or corrosion of the box over 25 years.
However with the pipe removed, its end blocked off and pulled well above any
waterline the problem of the running bilge pump has gone away!
So 'life on the ocean wave'
continues. We have 253 miles to run and God willing will make it into
Flying Fish Cove, Christmas Island just before dark on Thursday. My next
report will hopefully come from there.
Happy times from us both
David
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