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Free Spirit - Log3: 12 May 2015



Michael has almost fully recovered - seas very rough today so, very sensibly, he is staying on deck.
A strange thing happened the night before last. A loud growling noise was heard somewhere deep in the bow sounding like a tortured animal. We quickly ruled out an attack by some unknown monster of the deep and came to the conclusion that a machine was being tortured rather than an animal, but what and by whom?? The bow thruster is the only machine located in that part of the boat beneath the berth in the forward cabin. The noise was not the normal noise made by the bow thruster and certainly nobody had switched it on in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. However, cutting its circuit breaker silenced its agonies and the bow thruster was therefore clearly the source. Next morning we exposed it in its lair beneath the berth and discovered the cause of its agonies. The compartment in which it was housed was full of water submerging not only the bow thruster itself but also the batteries that power it and the anchor windlass. Reader do not panic! Free Spirit is definitely not sinking. Further investigation revealed that the anchor locker, forward of the bow thruster compartment was also full of water. Water normally accumulates here and is pumped out by a sump pump into the bilges and then back into the sea. For some reason the sump pump has stopped working and water is running along cables to flood the adjacent bow thruster compartment shorting the starter circuit. We pumped out the compartment yesterday and when everything has dried out we will see what still works and what does not. The forward cabin cannot be used for sleeping in the meantime, but the settees in the saloon make very acceptable substitute beds.
It is getting colder - not cold as in English cold but perceptively cooler. Today the sky is overcast with frequent heavy showers and very big waves once more crashing on the foredeck. However, we are well over half way to Bermuda with the promise of kinder atmospheric conditions to come. We celebrated crossing the halfway point at dinner yesterday evening with a glass of (non-alcoholic) bubbly. So everyone is in good spirits.
Log authored by Peter.


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