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American Spirit II - Day 277; Crisis in the Indian Ocean - Day 5 of 11; Thursday, October 9, 2014



Five days down with our mast still up but 6 more days to go until we get to Mauritius and safety.

Relieved Jeremy at 7:00 AM. The wind is 20-25, and were moving at the 'breathtaking' speed of 4.3 knots thru the water and 5.7 over the land. In case anyone is wondering, going slow, on purpose, is very trying and tiring. Especially when you're going over 1,400 nautical miles. Like driving from Miami, Florida to Iowa in first and second gear.

The first thing I see as I climb up the stairs to the cockpit besides the low, overcast gray clouds is Merlyn of Poole 1/2 mile behind us. What a beautiful sight!

During the night in my aft cabin I hear a new noise, a groaning type noise. Something associated with our auto pilot or steering. Never a dull moment. I find out later, after Joel does some searching in the steering area of the boat, that its our auto pilot starting to fail. Who wants to hand steer 1,000 miles to Mauritius? Just when you think the mast will not come down, now we have a new problem. Joel thinks its a RAM or our hydraulic pump. We have the necessary spare parts to fix the problem, and Joel can install the spare out here if necessary; but we'd rather wait until we're at a marina. Who wants to go into the 'hidden hold' of the boat in the rear transom in 4-6 meter waves?

We're under 1,000 nautical miles from Mauritius now, at 999. Actually, that is to a waypoint northeast of the island. Hopefully, 48 hours from now we'll be 800 miles out and we can start motor sailing. We'd reduce sail, and this will reduce the stress on the rigging. And then we can motor at a speed faster than we've been sailing. I'm more confident than ever that the mast will not come down due to the thrashing we took the last couple of days.

In talking with Jonathan on Merlyn this morning, he tells me he's very tight on fuel. I ask him how short might he be and he states 40 liters (10 gallons). I tell him that when the wind and waves die down, we will transfer 10 gallons to him, as we have 11 jerry cans full of diesel on deck. He says great, if he needs it. Because Merlyn's generator is on the blink, they have to use their engine to charge their batteries. This is a less efficient way of charging than a generator; and it uses twice the fuel.

Jonathan also advised me that a wave entered down his hatch and hit the keyboard of his navigation computer, disabling it (the keyboard). Ouch. Jenny is bringing a new one from the UK when she joins him again in Mauritius. Jeremy comes up with a way for Jonathan to type using his mouse. Way to go Jeremy!

Jonathan told me in a conversation he had with Sigi last night (I hope I'm not breaking any confidences here), that Sigi was amazed in these (high and confused) seas that our mast was still standing. I've had the same thoughts frequently myself, Sigi. The answer is called Divine Providence, luck and Joel Heyne. What Joel did to secure the rig (so far) is truly amazing. He even volunteered to go the rig in 4-6 meter seas. Not this time Joel! You signed on for the whole trip, not two thirds of it.

With no sun shining its actually quite cool out. I'm wearing a long sleeved shirt, pullover, foul weather pants and jacket and my cap. And the velcro on my wrists and ankles are snug to keep my body's heat from escaping.

At 8:59 AM a large wave hits the port side of the boat and sends water into the cockpit and over the dodger. That's right, over the dodger. A big one. Gee, isn't this fun?! I get wet, but not too badly. I'm getting really quick moving away from incoming water when I hear a wave approach or crash into the side of the boat. Here's a question: What's the difference in taking water into the cockpit between being 'pooped' and having water enter via a 'slapper' wave? The answer is that when your pooped, the wave crest itself breaks into the cockpit. All in! A lot of water. When you get slapped by a wave, the wave hits the boat and then the water enters after that. Its 'raining' water; versus a fire hose. Obviously, the former is much worse. So far in the Indian Ocean, we've been pooped four times. In the Pacific Ocean, we were never pooped. Not once. I love the Pacific.

Tommy from NDS Darwin hosts the 10:00 AM net; and does a great job.

Breakfast at 10:40 AM is scrambled eggs; potato; chilled fruit cocktail; and bread.

Our noon position is 17 degrees, 53 minutes South; 74 degrees, 46 minutes East; and we're 974 miles from Mauritius. From noon yesterday, we've traveled 131 nautical miles at an average speed of 5.5 knots. Whoopee!

Joel and I each nap at different times this afternoon. I'm down from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM; and Joel goes down at 3:30 PM to about 5:00 PM.

At 3:30 PM the wind is 20/29; and we moving 5.0 knots thru the water and 6.3 knots over the land. Our target speed thru the water is 5 knots as we feel that at this speed we won't be stressing the rig too much. It is sunny and the seas are still confused, big and rough.

To help the auto pilot steer, each of us 8 hours a day now sits behind one of the wheels and help steer the auto pilot. It's laboring at the end of its turn (of the wheel). We assist it there. Not hard work, but who has a spare 8 hours on a boat in the middle of an ocean? We each do 30 minutes and then off for one hour during the day time when we're all up. During watches at night, we do 3 hours apiece at one time.

At 4:39 PM the wind is still 20/29 knots and we're averaging over 6 knots over the land and surfing down waves at speeds up to 7.8 knots. Not bad with very little sail flying - our storm jib and a mainsail with 2 1/2 reefs in it. At least its sunny now, and the ocean, as usual, is a dark, dark blue and the crested wave tops are turquoise as they 'form up.'

Dinner at 5:50 PM is freeze dried Beef Curry, 4 bean mix, fruit cocktail and breakfast crackers with butter, jelly and peanut butter.

From 6:30 PM to 7:42 PM I type a log and emails. It's always fun doing this when your in rough seas. Don't try this at home!

Tommy from NDS Darwin hosts the 7:00 PM net.

I nap from 7:30 to 8:50 PM before my 9:00 PM to midnight watch.

As I sit in the cockpit relieving Joel at 9:00 PM a wave, a slapper wave, hits the side of the boat and pours water into my 2 1/2 gallon zip lock bag that I keep my Kindle,head phone, I Phone,and log in. Fortunately, the Kindle and phone are also in their own protective bags. I dodge a bullet. Nice try Neptune!

Joel relieves me at midnight and I go right to the navigation station and turn on the SSB to send and receive emails. I connect with Brunei in the Philippines 2,788 nautical miles away on a heading of 64 degrees. Why do I put this information in my log? Because some people want to know. One in particular, a tennis friend of mine Tamps, Florida (Hello Kit), is an ex fighter pilot and he likes that sort of information. I like it, too as I'm collecting all sorts of mundane data for my book that I'll write when this trip is over. The send and receive both are fast at 1400 bytes per minute. I'm done at 12:24 AM (14 minutes total). Not bad.

One of the emails I get is from Jonathan from Merlyn of Poole, our escort. He sends me his thoughts of a plan of action if the worst happens:

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Dear American Spirit,

Good idea to be just behind like this. It is great being able to keep an eye on you J.

I have been discussing with Sigi our role should the worst happen and your mast fall. Here are my thoughts. Let me know if you agree and have something to add.

1. We would move to your location and stand by, maybe a quarter of a mile off your stern. Anyway close enough to allow us good visual contact on progress you are making to cut rig clear or whether you have any hull damage. We maintain VHF contact with American Spirit using a hand held or emergency antenna.

2. We can provide external communications; rally control, rescue services or other vessels as needed through sat phone, SSB and VHF. Initially we immediately advise MRCC Falmouth UK and rally control of the situation giving details of both vessels and their location, crew etc.

3. Should you be able to clear the rig and continue under motor or jury rig, we will provide an escort service as we are now.

4. Should you have to abandon ship due to hull damage or other cause we would be there to pick you all up and continue to Mauritius. In this case it will be best if you launch a life raft and we pick you all up from there.

Please let me know any other thoughts you may have. As mentioned when we spoke, with these waves it would be just too dangerous to approach to help with clearing the actual rig.

Best wishes, Jonathan

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Why do I like the World ARC? Its because of people like Jonathan, Sigi and Geoff on Merlyn of Poole. Without their escort we would be in dire straits. Its stressful enough with an escort close by. As I said in the first part of my log, when I climb into the cockpit at 6:00 or 7:00 AM, one of the first things I see is the mast head light of Merlyn of Poole. A very, very comforting sight. Thank you Jonathan.

This is our latest weather forecast from the Rally. Seas of 4-6 are meters, not feet:

WEATHER ROUTING INC. IS PROUD TO BE THE OFFICIAL WEATHER PROVIDER FOR THE WORLD
ARC COCOS TO MAURITIUS
PREPARED: OCTOBER 09 00:21Z
FM: WEATHER ROUTING INC. (WRI)

SYNOPSIS: GOOD MORNING. AN ELONGATED RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE LIES ALONG 30S
BETWEEN 70E AND 105E. THIS HIGH WILL MOVE LITTLE OVER THE NEXT 2-3 DAYS. THE
HIGH WILL MAINTAIN ITS STRENGTH THROUGH TOMORROW BUT WILL THEN WEAKEN STEADILY
THROUGH THE 11TH. RIDGING ASSOCIATED WITH THE HIGH EXTENDS N'WARD TO
APPROXIMATELY 12S AND THIS RIDGING WILL STRENGTHEN SOMEWHAT FURTHER THROUGH
TOMORROW BEFORE ALSO STEADILY WEAKENING THROUGH THE 11TH.

CONCLUSION: ENHANCED TRADE WINDS AND SEAS WILL PERSIST ACROSS FOR MUCH OF THE
FLEET THROUGH TOMORROW BEFORE CONDITIONS GRADUALLY EASE/SUBSIDE THROUGH THE
11TH AND INTO THE 12TH. SHORTER PERIOD TRADE-WIND DRIVEN SWELL WILL MIX WITH
LONG PERIOD S-SW SWELL CREATED BY GALES/STORMS WELL TO THE SOUTH. THE HIGHEST
CONDITIONS WILL GENERALLY BE FOUND ACROSS THE N'RN PORTIONS OF EACH GRID, WITH
CONDITIONS TENDING LIGHTEST FARTHER SOUTH AS WELL AS FARTHER WEST.

ZONE 11L VICINITY FORECAST:
09/00 GMT: WINDS E-SE 22-27 GUSTS 30KTS. SEAS 4-6 SWELLS S-SW/MIXED/E
10-12FT (20SEC). SKIES CLOUDY. SCATTERED SHWRS/SQUALLS*. CURRENTS FROM E @
0.8KTS.
09/12 GMT: WINDS E-SE 22-27 GUSTS 30KTS. SEAS 4-6 SWELLS S-SW/MIXED/E
11-13FT (17SEC). SKIES PARTLY CLOUDY. SCATTERED SHWRS/SQUALLS*. CURRENTS FROM
E @ 0.9KTS.
10/00 GMT: WINDS E-SE 22-27 GUSTS 30KTS. SEAS 4-6 SWELLS S-SW/MIXED/E
10-12FT (15SEC). SKIES CLOUDY. SHWRS/SQUALLS*. CURRENTS FROM E @ 0.9KTS.
10/12 GMT: WINDS E-SE 20-25 GUSTS 28KTS. SEAS 4-5 SWELLS S-SW/MIXED/E
10-12FT (14SEC). SKIES PARTLY CLOUDY. SCATTERED SHWRS/SQUALLS*. CURRENTS FROM
E @ 1.1KTS.
11/00 GMT: WINDS E-SE 18-23 GUSTS 26KTS. SEAS 3-5 SWELLS ENE-ESE/MIXED/S
9-11FT (9SEC). SKIES CLOUDY. ISOLATED SHWRS/SQUALLS*. CURRENTS FROM E @
0.8KTS.

During the 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM watch Jeremy has the auto pilot turn itself off. The boat jibes, but he recovers. A 'preventer' on the end of the boom keeps the boom from swinging around and blowing something up.

Brian Fox



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