can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Tommy - Log 6 - A day of progress



We’ve made progress along our track :) finally! Wind is picking up so we furl in the Code and set-up a goose wing so that we can head further down wind. A goose wing set-up is when the main sail is let out on one side and the Genoa is poled out the other side, it makes your boat look like an elegant (gigantic) swan gliding along the water. The big white sails capturing the wind and pulling us closer to St Lucia. Just as we have everything set up, Ted starts howling, there’s DOLPHINS!!! They’re playing at the bow, diving and twirling in the water, keeping the same speed, if not faster than the boat. Incredible! They surf down the bow waves and every now and again you see them lean over and so they can take a quick look at us. Spending time with Dolphins in the morning always sets you up for a good day ahead. Perhaps this was a sign our luck was changing!

The sails are now set up for the day, giving us time to focus on the engine. Just before Jason starts making calls and all floor boards are opened to gain access to the engine, he is fiddling around with the navigation display screen trying to clear the wind shift alarm as it’s going off every 10 mins or so and driving him mad. Instead, he manages to reset all the settings! Great, the screen restarts and our desired screen setup and display is no longer there and to make matters worse there is no sign of AIS data. AIS is basically this incredible system that picks up other vessels, and vice versa. It gives you information about the vessel name, how far away they are, how far away you will be at the closest point i.e whether or not you will collide, and even their destination, size etc.

It’s taken us 4 months to tweak the screen to get it setup exactly how we want it, displaying the data that works for us. I’ve been called up on deck to sort it out. I manage to reconfigure the data to show us, the apparent and true wind speed and direction, our SOG (speed over ground), cursor and vessel position co ordinates. I then figure out how to display the COG (course over ground) direction arrow and apparent wind angle arrow onto our vessel icon. The little AIS icon is still grey meaning inactive / not connected! I’m aware that there are many vessels out there that don’t have AIS however it’s just comforting to know that your vessel will appear on any massive cargo ships screen, they are able to identify that we are a sailing vessel and when on a collision course they tend to radio in to agree the diversion required to avoid collision. In this case, we could state that we are under sail, have engine failure and ask if they could change course. Without AIS, the big ships can’t see us unless they have their radar on and we can’t identify any other vessel on our navigation display. This makes me feel very uneasy! Anyway, I decide to take a break from looking at the screen and read through a few of the operation and installation manual. 

Meanwhile, we’ve have a newsletter from the ARC. It turns out the storm affected a few other yachts, some have had to divert to Cape Verdes and others returned to Gran Canaria. Some have had to retire completely from the rally, including a trimaran that was demasted in the storm. Another boat had someone with a serious injury. We thought we had it bad, others, clearly had it worse and we’re devastated for them. 

Stu and Jason have been hanging over the engine for hours, unscrewing high pressure fuel pipes, blowing into them in order to unblock them. Manually pumping through the oil to help bleed the engine and finally we have a break through. The manual pump appears to have more pressure and it seems the fuel is now filling up the filters. One of the engineers recommended giving the manual pump a bang with a mallet and changing the fuel tanks over from starboard to port. Jason walked up the stairs to go turn the key for the engine for about the 35th time since engine failure. The engine starts, which it had previously done but then cut out, this time round it ticked over and over, started up and then stayed on!!!! We have a working engine!!! OUR ENGINE IS WORKING!!! I’m so proud of Jason and Stu for their determination and persistence to get the engine started. Yippeeeeee!!!!!!

Spirits are high, we are all elated almost to a point where we can’t actually believe what had just happened. This bloody engine has consumed us for days. Typically though, as soon as we get the engine started the wind starts picking up. As mentioned, we could have done with having it working over the last couple of days to plough us through the windless pocket of the ocean. At least now we can sail and if necessary motor away from the tankers, storms, sharks and pirates!

I decided to tamper with the navigation display to try activate AIS before sunset, this time it seemed to be straightforward and within minutes I had AIS active. At least that’s another thing working!!!

Through all of our trials and tribulations,  I think I forgot to mention that our water maker has also packed up after the storm. This of course hasn’t been one of our priorities yet as we have 1.5 tanks of water to shower. Just about enough drinking water and have started to use the salt water pump in the kitchen for washing up. We’ve been given a contact number for someone who will be able to help us troubleshoot it within the next couple of days.

At sunset, Jason serves up a Hendrick’s gin and tonic with cucumber, delicious. A cheers for a progressive day :)


Previous | Next