Day 14, 15, 16
Gins.pt
Mon 7 Dec 2009 23:04
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Saturday morning we got into a more windy area. But
soon again the wind decreased to a force 3-4 just above the lower limit when we
would start the engine. We were doing 5 to 6 miles per hour. We spent the
morning trying to find the defect in the 24V alternator
which was exchanged in Las Palmas and was dead after an hour of
operation. According to Murphy bad things never come alone.
At 7pm our generator (the power plant ) stopped by
itself in the middle of charging the batteries. We stated troubleshooting on
Sunday morning after the breakfast and the St.
Nicholases and devils made of chocolate. While inspecting the engine of the
generator we probably loosened a cable of the oil pressure sensor which is
practically invisible in the backside. Starting the generator again it looked
like that we repaired the failure when after 30 minutes it suddenly stopped with
the error message Low oil pressure. We could not find the mistake as the oil
level was correct.
So we worked o plan B. We still had the 12V
alternator on the main engine in operation. We dissasembled the battery bed with
16 batterries and started charging the blocks of 2 with the 12 V
charger
and then reconnecting them again - twice a day till
enf of the journey.
We had to built the connecting cables with 6 wires
of 10 mm. Fortunately I had a cable sufficiently long and thick to cut it in 6
pieces, 1m long.
Today we went back to the generator and finally
could detect one tiny cable which was detached and the oil pressure errormesage
was eliminated.
But the initial deffect was still there. The
generator still runs like only 2 of the 3 cylinders were working and it dies
after 15 minutes. So we need to continue rewiring the batteries.
This gives us enough energy for autopilot
instruments and electric
toilets, but not for cooking, bread baking or
making water. We still have about 400 liters of water, enough till St. Lucia.
Yesterday we had a
dry food day, but today I activated my old
camping gas cooker, which is mounted on a 2kg gas bottle. We put a cork plate on
the electric stove put on it the gas bottle and fixed it like the pot. Then we
had 2 cooks frying the beef filets - one holding the pan and other opening the
cover and turning the steaks. - Medium rare was the choice of the cooks. We do
have 4 m waves so kitchen work is quite a balance act.
And the wind gusts are up to 28 knots. Boat is
leaning in any direction for up to 30 degrees.
Right now on Monday evening we have less than 300
miles to the destination. The weather forecast is good, enough wind. We
estimate
to cross the finish line on Wednesday
afternoon.
Today we have changed the time again and are now at
GNT - 3 or.
4 hours behind the Central European
Time.
Crew is healthy and in a good mood, partially
because of the dreams..
One dreams about a long shower, the others about
chocolat-au-lait 's
And am fearing a nightmare trying to find
competent people to repair the faulty equipment and get the torn spinnaker
in original shape....
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