Leg 2

NZ – Tahiti, 24-29 September

24 Sep 08

It has been a day of quiet sailing with a moderate to light W/SW breeze. For most of the day we sailed with about 2/3 of the jib on a starboard tack. We have found that we can reduce flogging of the sail whenever the boat rolls heavily with a light wind by reducing sail. We went into the night with winds in the 6-10 kt range. All night long the boat ambled along at 1.9 – 2.5 kt with the jib down to about 25 %. Fortunately there has been enough steerage for the autopilot to do its work so that the three of us have been able to spend our time on various sailing and recreational activities. In the evening we watched an old British navy square rigger movie titled “Defiance” which we found entertaining.

During the day we ran the engine for three hours. At the beginning the charge rate was 135 amps and soon it settled to 100 amps. The preliminary indication is that three hours of charging will provide us with about two days of electrical power. The charging and battery system is working fine but the fact is that with the autopilot running continuously and the refrigerator running 20 hours per day we are consuming about 150 amp hours per day.

25 Sep 08

Arnold was able to get a good weather fax with his system during his long watch last night. It looks like we will be under the influence of this High for at least another two days and can expect more light winds.

We are making a slow though comfortable passage that could take more than 25 days. As of 5 AM Pachuca was 470 nm from Opua and 1670 nm from Raivavae. We will have enough diesel fuel but I am concerned about the water supply. We started out with 280 liters of water, not counting our reserve of 20 liters. This suggests an average of 11.2 liters per day for the boat, or 3.7 liters per person per day. We have been consuming at more than that rate. It is very important that we verify that the water maker will work OK because if it does not we will have to impose a severe drinking water regime.

Early in the watch I finished the baby oil treatment of the plumbing. The hand water pump in the head had been getting extremely stiff. I coated the shaft with baby oil and poured about 20 ml of it into the toilet bowl. The effect was almost miraculous – the pumping actions are now smooth and light. This morning before dawn I gave the same treatment to the two hand water pumps in the galley.

At mid morning we moved the water maker from the forecastle to the foredeck and prepared it for its first deployment. The water maker is a “Waterlog 200” designed to be towed behind the boat at a speed of at least 4 kt. Because the wind was very light we expected to make very efficient use of an engine run: moving Pachuca toward its destination, charging the batteries, and providing power to the water maker. We took the water maker to the cockpit, shackled it to its anchor point on the stern rail, stopped the boat, lowered the unit into the water, waited 5 minutes to allow the unit to fill up with water, then proceeded under engine at 1400 RPM and 5.5 kt. Twenty minutes later Brenda was delighted to see the first drops of water to come out of the small tube. It tasted fresh but like plastic. The instructions said to discard the first few liters of water to clear out any remnants of the manufacturing process. However, the output of water turned to be little more than a few small spurts every few minutes. The unit was in a cycle of going below the water, then coming back up and breaking the surface, then going back down. The instructions suggested that this would lead to ingestion of air and reduced output of water. Its suggestions were to (1) connect the towing line as low as possible and failing that (2) attach a 2 or 3 kg weight at the front of the unit (the “tow tube”). We stopped the boat, moved the attachment point to the second rung of the boarding ladder, then took off again with the boarding ladder down and the attachment point only half a meter above the water. Still the unit surfaced. I stood on the ladder and forced the attachment point to below the surface of the water and we definitely noticed more water coming out, though the water maker was still breaking the surface. We finished the trial with a few milliliters of water and a plan to find a compact weight of 2-3 kg to attach to the front of the unit for the next sea trial.

The three-hour engine run left us with all batteries 100% charged. The “house” batteries were at 920 amp hours.

In the afternoon we launched the spinnaker. The hoist went well. However, the wind was too gentle for even that very light spinnaker to remain constantly filled. We proceeded with an apparent wind of about 3 kt and a speed over the ground (SOG) of 2.5 kt. An hour before sunset we dropped the kite. The wind was too light for sailing so we tidied up the deck and lay ahull. Brenda and I then spent 30 minutes looking into the still water at the amazing amount of life near the surface of the ocean. There was an assortment of many thread-like creatures, tiny jelly fish, and the occasional sea cucumber. After a pleasant dinner accompanied by white wine for Arnold and red wine for Brenda and myself we watched “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”, an enchanting 1947 film starring Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, and George Sanders, while munching on dark chocolate and sipping port. The cruising life can be very tough.

We spent a little time in the cockpit savoring the experience the silence of a windless and calm ocean under a moonless and cloudy sky, 500 miles from the nearest land. There was a pathway across the water from the reflection of Venus, and phosphorescence sparkling and flashing below the surface. We all retired.

26 Sep 2008

... Or so I thought. At dawn I woke up and Arnold had the boat sailing. The wind had come up from the N/NW and we were headed East on a port tack with the full jib. He had been up all night and got some excellent weather faxes. I got another hour or two of sleep while Brenda took the helm as she frequently does early in the morning. After coffee and toast with Brenda I went up on deck and I was determined to raise the mainsail without getting Arnold out of bed.

Raising the main has been a pain principally because the lazy jacks (coarse netting of cord on each side of the sail to keep the main sail on the boom whenever it is lowered), even when loosened, tend to catch the end of the battens. Because of this raising the main has been either a 2-man job or a 1-man job with the engine running and the boat dead to wind. I decided to manage the lazy jacks as I had on my previous boat Angie. I added an extension to the pull cord of the starboard (downwind) lazy jack then dropped it so that it was entirely below the level of the boom. While Brenda pointed the boat into the wind I moved the traveler to the starboard side, loosened the mainsheet, then brought up the mainsail with no no problem: raised it 2/3 by hand and the rest by winch. I then raised the lazy jack again and removed the extension. I left the lazy jack extension cord on the mast because this will be our technique from now on.

At 8.30 AM we were sailing East at over 5 kt with full main and jib on beam reach. After three days of difficult downwind sailing in light airs it was good to be seriously moving again. We were just over 500 nm from NZ and 1620 nm from Raivavae.

After lunch we had another go with the water maker. I had spent over an hour cobbling together a collection of shackles that I bolted through the end of the towing tube at the very front of the unit. This added less than 1 kg of weight to the front instead of the prescribed 2-3 kg but it was better than nothing. We stopped the boat, lowered the water maker, gave it a few minutes to fill up with water, then started sailing. There was great improvement, with the front of the unit breaking water only occasionally. I stood on the ladder to lower tow line angle. With the water maker completely submerged and being towed at 6 kt we figured that we were giving the unit the best chance possible to perform. However, the result was dismal: a few drops of water every minute, and lots of air bubbles. I re-read the instructions and decided to have one last attempt. I removed the tow tube, inserted, inserted the plug designed to keep the innards moist, then stowed it. This was the first time that I had dismantled the tow tube since late 2007 in Fremantle. On the next trial I will first drain the water out of the unit by undoing a small screw. Then I will replace the screw, assemble the tow tube, then try again. The instruction states that it is very important that the water be drained before use. If the trial produces results, fine. If not I will give up until I have consulted with the company via telephone. In the meantime we have discussed methods of capturing rain water. Arnold will try capturing it in the cockpit using a bran new blue tarp under his mattress. I'll explore using ropes along the gunwale to direct deck water directly to the water inlet. Brenda talked about capturing water in a bucket as it ran from the mainsail. For this we will need a serious rain shower to first cleanse the boat surfaces of salt and then provide a sufficient amount of useful water.

The moderate (12-14 kt) northerly wind was to be with us until almost dawn the next day and we sailed into the night doing about 6 kt. After dinner the three of us played scrabble and Brenda won again.

27 Sep 08

I woke up at about 4 AM to the sound of the boom banging as it swung back and forth. The wind had suddenly died and Arnold was sheeting hard the mainsail and jib. Arnold retired after showing us his latest set of weather faxes and I nursed the boom until dawn by keeping a hand on the mainsheet and restraining the boom when it wanted to swing. Shortly after dawn Brenda was on deck at the wheel while I dropped the mainsail. We had a reasonable run of about two hours with jib only with a light wind that had backed to the NW. By 7.30 AM the wind was up again and back on our port beam and we raised the mainsail and soon were traveling at over 6 kt.

During the day we had another go at the water maker. This time we removed the tow tube, drained the water out as instructed, replaced the tow tube, then hove the boat to, lowered into the water, gave it a chance to fill up with water, then resumed sailing. The shackles that I had attached to the front of the tow tube were working and there was no problem with the water maker breaking the surface of the water. We needed to charge the batteries so we also ran the engine for an hour and achieved a speed of 6 kt. Unfortunately the results were as bad as before: a few drops of water but nothing serious. However, we noticed one big and two smaller compressions of the tow cable that we think that may have been caused by kinking when we lowered the unit into the water. It is highly likely that the plastic tube inside the tow cable that conveys the water to the boat has been pinched. This represents carelessness on our part. However, having said that, the instructions are appalling: Dry turgid typewritten paragraphs on both sides of a waterproof card with no warnings along the line of “WARNING: It is most important that there be no loops in the cable when you lower the watermaker into the water because ...” Anyway, I'll put the issue aside for now and telephone the company from Fr. Polynesia.

We put in a reef one hour before sunset because of the strengthening northerly wind. Just after dark we put in the second reef because we like to keep our boat speed between 5.5 and 6.2 kt at night and we were edging closer to 7 kt.

28 Sep 08

Arnold woke me at about 3 AM with concern about the rising boat speed. Almost immediately we got the first drops of rain and I had just enough time to put on my wet weather gear before the front hit us, with its high winds, rain, and distant lightning. We got through that OK with rolled up jib and double reefed main almost luffed into the wind. The front passed quickly and we were left with a weakened wind that had backed 30 degrees to the NW. To avoid risk of gibing we dropped the mainsail and ran before the wind with partial jib only. By dawn the wind had died and we were running before a light wind at just over 2 kt. We had a reasonable sail that day but at 7PM we were becalmed again and dropped all sails and lay ahull for the night. That night we discovered that the deck light has stopped working. This happened going into Adelaide and it turned out to be a blown globe. I hope that this is the case again because I have spares.

29 Sep 08

We resumed sailing at 7AM after 12 hours ahull. It was a gentle wind from a new direction, SE, but steadily gained strength and backed to East. After several tacks where we tried to sail to best advantage we settled on starboard tack taking us ESE. We have been sailing at about latitude S34 and we want to sail directly East until we reach longtitude W160 at which time we will begin a gentle swing north looking for the SE trade wind. The book states that we should be below S40 in the “roaring forties” before swinging north but the weather down there looks too rough, with low pressure after low pressure. On the other hand, if we were to stray too far north we would tend to be at the wrong side of the high pressure systems and encounter head winds. At this latitude we are experiencing relatively good conditions with the benefit of reasonably good winds from the interesting weather systems further south.

We were to stay close hauled on a starboard tack and heading east for the entire day. I took advantage of the weather helm to let the boat steer itself with the wheel lashed. This gave our autopilot and battery system a rest. With the contribution of the solar panels and wind charger we ran the entire day using a net 1-3 amps. By mid morning we were rocketing along at over 6.5 kt so we put in the first reef and rolled in the headsail to about a 1.5.

In the afternoon we discussed our water supply. I managed to make a dip stick out of a broom stick (the broomstick was too wide for the aperture) and we measured about 150 mm (6 inches) of water in the starboard tank, which services the galley. We estimated that in nine days the three of us had used about 100 liters of water with 40 liters remaining. We estimate (to be confirmed by the dip stick) that the port tank, which services the head, is 90% full, with about 125 liters remaining. We agreed to implement a regime of 6 liters a day total. Very little fresh water will be used for bathing, and none for washing dishes or clothes, etc. That would give us another 27 days of sailing, with an emergency container of 10 liters and a good supply of fruit and drinks.

As night approached Brenda prevailed on Arnold and myself to put in the second reef. With reluctance we did and found that that the boat speed jumped from 4.5 kt to over 5 kt. Unfortunately that yielded an almost perfectly balanced helm which meant that I was forced to turn on the autopilot. It is just as well that we took Brenda's advice because the wind strengthened to over 17 kt apparent.

We listened to the news and “PM” from Radio Australia on the HF radio and got good information on the latest development in the global financial crisis. This is historic stuff.

At about 10 PM Arnold announced rain! Before long the three of us were doing whatever we could to capture whatever rainwater we could from the light shower. We tried a tarp spread out at the cockpit but this required two people to control it in the high wind with relatively poor results. I then tried my luck with a bucket under the end of the folds of our reefed mainsail which turned out to be amazingly productive in such a light rain. We only captured only about 9 liters of water, but the water was very drinkable and now we know that we can capture rain water and have an idea of how to go about it.

30 Sep 08

Handover

It is 2 AM and Arnold has been on watch since dark. He is not fussed about whether I relieve him or not but I say that I feel OK and he agrees to get some sleep which he well deserves. He says that all has been going well. Pachuca has been rocketing along at over 6 kt with her double reefed mainsail and no. 2 jib configuration. The skies are clear, house batteries at 12.2 volts, and he's been pumping 20 or 25 strokes every 45 minutes. I go topside expecting what I see but am nevertheless amazed at how the boat, if her sails are correctly set and her course properly managed, will sail hour after hour after hour like a machine which I suppose she is.

I go below and we discuss the disappointing amount of water that we are still shipping when we sail hard into the wind. We agree that we will have to wait until I get a chance to fiberglass the anchor well. If that does not work then I will have to get some professional advice. Brenda wakes up and asks me to turn the refrigerator back on (We shut it down for a few hours every night.) and dozes off again.

Arnold puts away his laptop and retires. I put on the kettle then fetch my laptop and set it up. Because the boat is heeled to starboard I tie the laptop to a rail with shock cord to keep it from falling off of the navigation table. I start writing this blog entry with a big cup of strong coffee within reach. I'm now on watch for a few hours. I'll stay mostly in the cabin. Every 30-45 minutes I will don my waterproof sailing jacket, climb up to the companion way, reach over to the end of the cockpit life line that is hooked on a cleat, clip on the life line which is attached to a Spectra line rated at 1000 kg running along the side of the cockpit, then step into the cockpit to the steering station where I will look around and do some pumping.

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Just before noon a front passed us and gave us a good rain shower. We had a reef in the mainsail which left a big fold of sail at the boom. Before long all three of us were pitching in to collect as much water as we could. I would ladle the water out of the fold in the sail with a plastic saucepan and drop it into a plastic bucket held by Brenda. When the bucket was 2/3 full (about 6 l) I would pass it to Arnold who was on the side deck with a big funnel in the inlet to the starboard tank. While Arnold poured that water in I would be loading up a second bucket. I was too busy and excited to count the buckets of water that we collected but Arnold said that the starboard tank was almost full because he could hear gurgling from the vent. We must have collected at least 50 liters of water, and probably more. Had the shower lasted another 15 minutes we could have topped up both tanks and had enough left over for bathing. However, that was not to be and we were left grateful and satisfied with what we had managed to collect. Pachuca's fresh water crisis on the leg to Tahiti was now over.

At mid-afternoon I had my first bath in about 5 days in the cockpit of the boat under a bright sun. I went to the steering station with a plastic bucket on a rope and bottle of shampoo. I hauled in a half a bucket of salt water and had a good wash. Then I rinsed with two more buckets of salt water. Then I went to the forward part of the cockpit, in front of the companionway, and poured about 3 liters of fresh water that we had just collected into the bucket. I rinsed as best I could by hand, letting as much of the water as possible dribble back into the bucket. I then used the electric pump and shower that I had previously connected to the 12 V socket at the navigation station to give myself a final overall fresh water rinse. I then dried off, walked to the forecastle with the towel around me, and put on underclothes. From there it was into the head for my first shave in days then out again to put on fresh dry clothes. I felt like a million dollars. An hour later Brenda had her bath behind the door separating the main cabin from the forecastle section of the boat. I sneered when she heated water in the kettle for the bath.

A second front (a warm front, we think) passed over us just before nightfall. This left us with a strong (15-22 kt) NE wind. We decided to go into the night with the same single reef that we had been running most of the day. It was a good call. When I took over the watch at midnight the wind had backed to N and Pachuca was sailing at over 6 kt on a port reach. Arnold had been rolling the head sail in and out to modulate our speed to the 5.5 – 6.5 kt range. The sailing was about as good as it gets: comfortable point of sail, good control of the speed, Autohelm doing the steering, and Pachuca doing over 6 kt with amazing smoothness under a crystal clear night sky.