Back on Port Tack with Light Winds

 Painted Petrels

08/29/02

    We finally had to tack last night after supper, so we are back on port tack.  The good thing is that the seas are calm and winds are light, so we are not heeled and bouncing around so much.  The bad thing is that the winds are light, and we are not making much progress.  The wind died altogether a few times last night, and we ended up starting the engine for a couple of hours.  We won’t be able to motor over 2000 miles to Cape Town, though, so we need to pick up some wind real soon if we want to make it on schedule.  The bulb on the shaft generator burned out again, and we don’t have any more spares.  Now that the water maker is running, we can’t really use it without the shaft generator to replenish the batteries.  Eric wants to see at least 30 gallons from the water maker before we rescind our water saving measures.

    I’ve actually been sleeping better with the colder weather.  The problem is it’s very difficult to get out of my bunk for watch when I’m so warm, and it’s so cold out there.

    The auto light bulb setup with the shaft generator blew out this morning (the bulb burnt out), and since Eric does not have any spare headlight bulbs left, he spent the morning rigging a new arrangement, using a number of lesser bulbs connected in parallel, so that any one bulb will not take too much of a load.  He hasn’t been able to properly test it since the boat hasn’t gone fast enough to get a substantial amount of output from the generator.  Eric is making fresh bread again, which is a great thing.  There’s nothing like an egg/spam salad sandwich on fresh bread for lunch.

    I may have seen an Albatross today.  I didn’t get a good enough look at it, but it was a big bird.  There has been quite a variety of bird life on this leg.  I particularly like the painted petrel, which has this mystical white pattern on the top of its wings.