031617

It’s been a quiet few days of 40 kt winds and temps in the 50°s. The boat has been surprisingly very dry and I’m waiting for some sun to vet the electrical system and how well the solar panels charge the batteries over and above the draw from the fridge and freezer. There’s little else to draw them down that matters and the pocket engineer in me wants to find the operating  parameters in the system. The sun will also fortunately dry out the teak deck and allow me to get the new prism installed as well as rebed some of the strips that have come up from the deck. Little things here and there to patch up before we leave. The prisms are an old, frankly wonderful invention, that can be found in a lot of places, the first of which coming to mind for some reason are the sidewalks in Seattle in the area of the underground. Basically they were set in ship decks to allow a generous amount of  light to spread into the cabin below using a  deceivingly small opening. These are about 8” long and only about 2” wide which maintains the structural integrity of the deck and anyone standing on them along with the possible constant wash of seawater possible on an ocean passage, but they let in quite a bit of light down below. Granted this Tayana has hatches in all the key places for ventilation and comfortable living, but it’s a nice touch for ambiance and you really don’t need to turn on a light. I came across these at an important time in my life after my master’s thesis was successfully concluded and I was given an octagonal one as a reward for a job well done. Maybe I’ll find my own ship’s deck to insert it in some day.

The oil has been changed in the generator and in the diesel motor. Every 100 hours with synthetic keeps them bulletproof and reliable. Not the only thing they need, but a critical thing to keep them happy. A new starter on the motor and a backup in case we need it. Never hurts to have backups in all cases and we are fully stocked with hoses, oil, belts, impellers, filters, and most other misc. parts that could fail.

Because of the torrential rains lately the marina has become a sludge of debris and mud instead of clean sea water and that means no watermaking. The membranes in the cylinders which are highly pressured to force fresh water through, leaving the salt behind after being filtered twice with a 20 micron and 5 micron filter are still fragile and it’s just not worth the risk to the watermaker. Not a problem in our marina because there’s a central building that houses the dock master’s office as well as showers, restrooms, and laundry services. Everything is a $2NZ coin including the shower but not the restrooms. It’s actually luxurious how long of a hot shower you can take for about $1.40US. I took a really quick shower expecting it to not be very much water but then I waited and waited and waited for it to either turn cold or cut off completely. Let’s just say I’m going to take my time on the next one.

Apologies if these seem like ramblings. They may become stream of consciousness more and more as we head out into the open seas. We are waiting for the first weather window after March 20th. We actually have a local weather guru called McBob Weather who provides historically based weather advice based on the highs and lows that come spinning off the eastern coast of Australia. Right now they are pretty consistently just south of 40°S but as we get later in the year they start to creep north, which could be advantageous, but we don’t want to wait that long. The lows here spin clockwise and so the northern side of the system blows all of its winds to the east which is ideal for us going on a run east, at least initially…

Explanation: “This is a consequence of a balance between the force imparted by horizontal pressure difference, friction against the earth's surface, and something called the Coriolis effect, which causes moving air parcels (and other objects not in contact with the earth's surface) to deflect to the left of their original direction in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa.”

Then the real test comes in when to turn to port and dash north. The risk if you look at Windytv.com in this area is that the lulls split the two sections of the earth from the roaring 40s and the trade winds that prevail westbound closer to the equator. Purgatory is not where you want to be and requires motoring… or a lot of patience… of which we only have about a week of fuel, leaving a reserve for when we arrive at our destination. Although arriving and anchoring can be done under sail, after a fatiguing month long trip across an ocean, putting demands on your crew at that point is foolish. Dropping the sails, motoring into an anchorage and dropping the hook is a welcome conclusion to a long haul. Now that’s not to say that’s what we will be doing, but it’s the smarter choice depending on the severity of the passage.

John, or canvas artiste is well on his way to finishing a full enclosure for the center cockpit on the Tayana. He is quite the sculptor, showing up every few days when the wind has died with endless rolls of canvas material from Germany (so you know it’s good) and literally clamping it to the frame, taking measurements, marking key points and literally drawing the frame on the fabric so when he returns to his shop, he knows exactly where the zippers go, snaps are located, and how it will fit into the big picture. It’s a pretty interesting process to watch and I’m looking forward to putting it to the test out there. There are so many things to consider when making one of these. Shade in the tropics, windows on the top to view the sails when at the helm. Windows on the sides for visibility in pour weather and fog but ventilation when warm and raining so it doesn’t fog up. Views between the dodger, which covers the gangway and hatch necessary when fully enclosed, and the bimini, which covers the majority of the cockpit behind the dodger. You need as much visibility as possible in the worst possible driving wind and rain. To contrast that with a cooling breeze in the blazing sun of the tropics can be a challenge and I think he has designed us a wonderful compromise. Surely it will be tested on this -10,000 mile journey we are about to embark on.