Thursday, June 26, 2008

ONE DAY OUT

Wind Runner departed Bermuda for America at 10:00 am yesterday after taking on 80 gallons of diesel at the last moment. We thought we would have good winds from the beginning to take us first north then northwest, where we would miss adverse currents. We stayed on the favored tack. The opposite tack had us heading nearly back to Bermuda. Expecting the winds to change any minute, we pushed on farther north and east than we wanted.

So now we deal with a bit of adverse current motorsailing, and wait for the higher winds that have been forecast. In any event, it looks like we will enter Block Island Sound between Block Island and Montauk Sunday late or Monday early.

On the trip over we were lucky to have no issues to deal with while in the middle of the ocean. In the beginning of the trip back we have had two. The boom vang bottom attachment bolt let go. The vang is a Garhauer vang, attached with a top half inch bolt and a bottom one. The bottom bolt eased out and then fell to the deck, along with two hard plastic spacers. The vang hit the deck and began tracing an arc back and forth across the cabin top. Amazingly the vang did no damage, and the bolt and spacers were laying within an arm's length of where they reside. The spacers could not be properly fitted while bouncing up and down and around. They were arranged differently as a temporary measure. The bolt was reset, and the whole assembly was wrapped with nearly a whole roll of rigging tape. This fix may last the whole way back.

The other issue is more mission critical. We lost sixty gallons of water overboard. We searched but have not determined where. It could have been a tap, leaky plumbing, or a leaky toilet. For the balance of the trip we will turn the water pump off between uses, and find and fix the issue when back at the dock. Shame on us for not keeping the water pump off between uses as a practice, as a good seaman would.

We still have plenty of water and will not have to touch the emergency water. We may only get one more shower each while offshore.

06/26/2008
16:27:21 GMT
34° 21.22' N
66° 19.18' W

2 comments:

Jim2 said...

Hope you have as good of a trip back as you did going over.

Concerning the loss of water, check the fittings and pressure relief valve at the hot water tank. We had a fitting break once, apparently from fatigue due to vibrations, and the pressure relief valve fail once. If either is the problem, you might be able to just cap off the hose leading to the tank for the trip back.

Jim and Sue

Anonymous said...

Good Luck, on your return voyage !