Day 92 - Chart Plotter Failure

We sailed all night with a steadily moderating wind. First thing in the morning I rolled out more sail to compensate for the 12 kt wind. The lull would last about six hours then the wind would build up again to a near gale.

I calculated that in the 6.4 days days in which we had sailed the 531 miles from the Horn we had averaged 83 miles a day. This included one slack day of very little progress and of course the challenge of getting around the Falklands. It increased my confidence in my assumption of 80 mile per day for the run to Cape Town, given that it would be a straighter run and I would be using the mainsail.

Not long after morning coffee I ventured to the foredeck for the first time in 2 days. All looked well. Both of the jury rig stays were still taut and the rest of the rigging looked OK. The headsail was still battling on with no obvious deterioration, and the fuel containers seemed secure. I started the engine early to get that out of the way before the wind strengthened. It looked like we would be becalmed for much of the following day and I hoped to seize that opportunity to do the bulk of the cord work on the mast steps and swap the large gas cylinders. Fortunately the cords at the top section of the mast were still intact, though I would still like to replace them with stronger cord. If I could replace the cords from the second crosstree down I would then be in a position to raise the mainsail.

I got up after a short nap, had a look at the situation outside, and decided to try to go up the mast and lay the mast step cord barrier from the first crosstree down. Even though the wind was at 17 kt and there was still a bit of a swell I thought that I could do it. It was the lower rungs that were almost totally unprotected and dealing with them would allow me to raise the mainsail if that became urgent. It was not an easy task. During the climb up the front of the mast facing aft and the actual work, the rolls were constantly pushing me hard sideways trying to spin me off the mast. This required clinging on hard, stiff as a board, during the rolls and trying to make progress between the rolls. I managed to do it and when I got back on the deck I was wringing wet with sweat. Down below I shed the foul weather gear and two sweaters in an effort to cool off. The thick and strong cord was perfect for the job. Had I used this in Fremantle when preparing the boat I have no doubt that it would have lasted throughout the entire circumnavigation. I would have to pick a very calm day for the work above the first crosstrees. This would require having no sail up the mast because at the first crosstree I must move to the other side of the mast to get past the radar dome.

At noon our position was 50S29, 54W37, representing a n-n distance of 92 miles in the direction 050T.

In the late afternoon the autopilot control at the binnacle began to audibly alarm and would not stop. Up to then it was always quietly displaying "Seatalk Failure" on its display. I powered down the C120 and threw the breakers and when I restarted the C120 was not plotting our position. For weeks it would lose touch with the GPS every 15 minutes or so but come back after a few seconds. This time it had gone hard.

I will rely on Dave's laptop software for navigation. In the computer is also C-Map. I also have two backup computers. I'll keep the C120 switched on in case it is still able to display AIS targets. However, without GPS input the C120 will not be able to calculate intercepts and warn me of danger. I will look into all this again on a calm day. I'll have to clear the port quarter berth area as well as the crossover between the quarter berths to enable me to trace the GPS and autopilot cables. I'd like to completely isolate the autopilot and ensure that the GPS cable is properly connected to the chart plotter.

At 7 PM local time we were sailing in a 30 knot wind. According the Falklands Radio the high winds were the result of a low passing toward the east, yet the sky was clear. Maybe we were in a squash zone. We kept sailing through it and held our course, making about 3 knots under the trysail and a greatly reduced headsail.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com