Im now some 60nm south of Bermuda and due east of Darien, GA. A few showers ahead of me this morning has turned into a steady rain this afternoon. Its all goodsea salt had been building up on everything on deck: instrument displays, rigging, the lower part of the jib and the overall deck itself. This rain is washing away (at least diluting) the salt, which reduces corrosion.
Unfortunately, this mornings modest winds on the port beam also shifted with the front now its well abaft the starboard beam and less than 6kts TWS. That means its difficult to keep the sails full on anything close to my desired course, and the sails are slatting (no matter what the course) due to wave action. Couple that with a nifty autopilot feature that sets off a continuous alarm any time my boat speed falls below 2.0kts and its pretty noisy down below. (My choices on the alarm are to 1) ignore the attention-grabbing shriek of the alarm, 2) manually cancel the alarm (knowing its likely to go off again as soon as my speed exceeds 2kts, then falls below that markoften 1 or 2 minutes after I cancelled the last one), or 3) change course to try to keep my speed consistently over the magic number. Right now, Im trying for option 3, but not very successfully and Im heading almost perpendicular to my desired Antigua course. My hope is that the wind will strengthen enough that I can return to my target course without that alarm triggering…
Post Script (10 minutes later): The alarm is off, the wind is back to the port beam at 12kts, and Im headed straight to Antigua doing 7.2kts. Not consistent with the weather forecast, but Ill take it!
Ah the delights of automation! Any designer of onboard instrumentation that incorporates an alarm that cannot be silenced due to unusual conditions should be fed to the sharks!
I heartily agree with your observations about Bermuda Radio personnel. They are the greatest!
Actually the outlook for you on both the European and GFS forecast models looks pretty good, Scott. Indications are for winds to become increasingly NE and get up to between 15 and 20 knots. But a whole lot better than storms developing to your west which often happens in December. Thankfully not this week!
If you have to be without a motor, probably Neptune is being somewhat more thoughtful than usual.
It sounds like you are truly having a good trip despite the mechanical difficulties; I would agree with your choice of option #3, keeping up boat speed. Heading south and passing Bermuda in good time must feel good. Wishing you continued good luck!
Have you tried putting the engine in gear again recently?
One of my lobstering friends kept a truck mirror on a pole to look at his prop for fouling
Ah yes, Bermuda Radio. Our interview was with a gentleman who sounded like your favorite uncle, patient (I had to find the magnifying glass in order to discern the tiny number on the EPIRB), friendly and understanding. They have a very open and practical attitude about recruiting good samaritans…..we were requested to tow/maneuver a disabled 41 footer into the customs dock……which we did while maintaining our place in the queue!
Looks like you are on the down slope to Antigua now. How many days with predicted wind?
Sounds like you are having a great sail (who needs a propeller?) and unless I’m misreading the weather charts, it appears that the weather is looking great.
I like your post about Bermuda Radio – it had a kind of Holiday ring to it.
How are you doing timewise wise?