BONUS SAILING

29º 30’ N, 115º 55’ W
23:21 Ship’s Time
Motoring (Again)

The wind filled in between 1100-1200 today, right on schedule with the GFS weather model, and by lunchtime we were sailing. We knew this passage would be motor-on, motor-off, in fits and starts, but we didn’t expect 15+ knots of NW wind today. Beautiful bonus sailing for nearly 12 hours, FALKEN finally getting to stretch her legs after a long layover in California.

While we might have some complaints about the lack of wind, we can’t complain about the weather. Daytime was ideal today, clear sunny skies and temps in the high 60s, warm enough to be comfortable, but cool enough where the sun feels nice on your skin. Inside the boat is a bit cooler thanks to the water temps, making for perfect sleeping weather off-watch. We’re pretty far offshore now, but the mountains on BAJA are still visible in daytime, poking above the marine layer of clouds and taller than I expected.

We found a few gremlins today, as you do on almost every passage. First was the port Lewmar 66 secondary winch. As we were rigging the preventer, the winch was making an awfully unhappy grinding noise, even though it did seem to be working properly. A quick investigation when we pulled the drum off was inconclusive, but when we compared it to the normal-sounding starboard 66, it became clear - the inside of the drum, where it rides on the bearing races around the bronze winch base is badly worn, and a few of the teeth on the drum that engage with the drive gears are worn and broken. The winch drum wobbles on its base, and while it works, it’s continuing to try to grind itself to death. I’m hoping that a good machine shop in La Paz can bore out the worn drum and sleeve it with aluminum or delrin to get us going in the short-term while Adam has time to source a new winch drum. Oftentimes in these far-flung places where it’s hard to get parts, the machine shops are excellent, having to make-do with whatever they have on hand. We shall see.

The new gremlin showed its face when I recommissioned the watermaker. It had been stored back in November with the storage chemical, so you’ve got to flush the system for at least an hour before pressurising it and making water again. I did that, and once we were up and running, one of the feed pumps kept cutting on and off again. I recall having this happen before. Turns out the positive wire on the on/off switch, which is held in place with a blade connector, was loose. The connection was so bad and the wire so hot because of it that it had started to melt the shrink wrap on the connector. Thankfully that was a quick fix before the thing completely melted off. Secured back in place, it’s not hot anymore.

And so it goes…look for small problems, fix them, repeat. Such is life offshore.

In other news, the food continues to be a hit, and we’ve got ample time and a flat galley in which to cook. Eggs were on hand for breakfast courtesy Lee and Ryan, Mary made a beautiful tomato salad with homemade croutons, and we had frittata for dinner (because you can’t have too many eggs in a day).

If there’s any solace in motoring through the night, it’s definitely the stars (and the electric dolphins, which have made their return again tonight). I’ll never get sick of the stars out here.

// Andy