Day 11
Zepher
Chris & Lyn Darch
Fri 7 Dec 2007 13:38
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15:43.80N
41:52.20W
Hi Blog watchers,
Roger Engineering officer reporting for
duty.
Today is a big day for the engineering team because
today is the day the teddy bears go---------- Oh no that's not right,
nerves are setting in; the pressure is on because we finish the modification and
test the water maker. Crew excitement is mounting as the prospect of a hot
shower gets closer, particularly since Chris is the only one to have showered
for a few days. There was no way any of us were going on deck when he was
prancing about in the state of undress that he was in. Mary you
should have warned us of the traumatic effect Chris in red nicks would have on
the rest of the crew, Graeme has been very quite ever since. Further
to the big day, we must wait until this pm before the big event since
mother (Di today) has told us that we will not be allowed in the galley this
morning to finish the wiring. For the those of you who have nerdish
tendencies I shall report the technical side, in detail, at the end of my
blog.
As for the 'Yotting' I can report that during my
000-0400hrs watch I saw a yacht! Big deal you might say but for the crew
this is a major event. An ARC yacht probably and only 1.5 to 2nm away
because I could see her low level (no tricolour) navigation lights very
clearly. Also of interest to us nerds she didn't show on the radar at any
range! Strangely she was going very slowly, 1-2knts maybe, and we
overhauled her in less than 30mins. We suspect that she had deployed a
drogue since the weather and sea was been unkind to us most of the early night
time. With 25-30knts, occasionally gusting in the 40's, and 8-12ft
breaking seas we were reefed down to a pocket handkerchief twin head
set. Add to this the very wet weather that everyone, except me, had
during their watch you can see that the Morale officer is in great
demand. This of course adds to the pressure on the engineering
team. Additionally Graeme Comms officer tells us that the we
can expect wet stormy weather for another 24hrs.
On ARC position reporting I have to tell you that
we are very disappointed with the infrequent, one, reports from Margaret so
we are looking to fill this post. The post holds good promotional
prospects Richard?!
Ok this is the end of life aboard the good
ship Zepharantes.
For nerds only:
At this stage our solution is not proven but we
believe that the raw sea water is not getting to the High Pressure pump.
The HP pump is positioned just below the waterline, maybe only 100mm below, and
is fed raw seawater by virtue of the head provided by being below the
waterline. The system has worked satisfactorily many time in relatively
calm sea conditions and not in a large seaway with the boat rolling heavily. Our
proposed solution is to feed the raw water to the HP pump via a feed
pump. Interestingly, well to some of us, I have read of similar
problems on ARC boats over a number of years where air gets into the watermaker
system. Zepharanthes has a glass top to her inlet strainer and
air bubbles come in when she surfs and/or rolls.
With all fingers crossed,
Signing off.
Roger
ps. what sticks out of a man's pyjamas that he can
hang his hat on (answer tomorrow)
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