Galapagos to Marquesas –8 May 2024 – Day 8

I woke  at 7.00am and decided to get up and join Keith and Ian who were on watch to catch up and have a cup of tea. All was well and we were sailing along quite nicely and in the right direction. I had been thinking about the watermaker and hoped we could solve the issue. I had text Tim Hewitson again and in his reply he thought it could be that some moisture may have got into the watermaker pumps but it could be any device on the 240 volt system  and suggested we try each device in turn and see whether it tripped and that may identify the cause of the problem.

Charles and I came on at 8.00am and we chatted it through and he wanted to review the electrical diagram again. He could not identify from it what this electrical earth switch was connected to. I had not been in the engine room yet and so I went to look and could not find anything untoward or any sign of water leakage or water on the watermaker pumps  Mark got up by this time and we decided to put the generator on as we needed to charge the batteries anyway.  We will then try the watermaker again and see if it trips again. We started it and it ran fine but as the tanks were nearly full,  we ran it only about 5 minutes but it did not trip. We could not understand why it had tripped but we will just monitor and fill up when each tank is half full. It is possible it is some querk or anomaly and there may be nothing wrong. At least it works and hopefully it will continue to do so and the generator and charging is working which is very reassuring.

Keith and Ian cooked bacon and egg sandwiches which cheered us all up as it was going to be a busy day. Charles got on with the daily checks and I needed to service the generator and change the oil and filter which I do every 100 hours.  We need to look after it as it is vital for us. I therefore got what I needed to do to do this and will tackle this after lunch.

Mark had an issue with his heads (toilet) and although it was working it was making a different noise. I joked that it had been working hard!! and suggested that it may be an issue with the macerator. He therefore set about this task which involved taking off the macerator but to do this you have to take off the toilet. This was all new for him, but he persevered and found a bit of a plastic bag stuck on the macerator. How it got there we do not know but once put back together it is working well. Taking the heads apart is one of the worst jobs on the boat and you need to be careful with the heads to avoid having to do this. Whilst he was doing this I cleaned the cockpit and the binnacle and the cockpit window and all of this does get mucky.

Ian decided to have a go at the cockpit cushions which also get dirty and in the tropical air it starts to also get a bit mouldy. He ended up taking the cushions in the shower and scrubbing them and they are looking a lot better now so thank you Ian. Keith made some more Coleslaw and a salad for lunch which we all enjoyed. Joyce then defrosted the little fridge which needs to be done fairly regularly and she started to make a beef stew for consumption in the days ahead.  I prepared a loaf of fresh bread and dough for buns to have with our burgers for supper.

After lunch I set about servicing the generator, which is not easy when the boat is swaying but it has to be done. Ian volunteered to help and in we went into the sauna of an engine room. We first of all had to remove the sides of the generator housing and I have been having an issue keeping the sound deadening fire resistant foam from remaining in place on the underside of the lid. I therefore asked Charles to sort this out whilst we continued. I removed the oil by using our oil removing pump which we pumped into an empty container and then I changed the oil filter discarding all the oily parts into a bucket. I checked the belt and the whole generator for any faults although I did not take out the impeller (which helps circulate the water). We then cleared up and cleaned and refilled the generator with oil. I then ran it for a few minutes to circulate the new oil and then stopped it and after a few minutes checked the oil level.  I then put the case back and Charles had done a good job with the top. As you can imagine Ian and I came out rather hot but we hopefully are now good for another hour.

Mark had been worried about the freezer for some time and it needs some attention but I cannot do this until Tahiti. What the engineers did in Grenada and Galapagos had not worked and some food was frozen and others not properly. It could therefore be a health hazard. Mark wanted to see how hot the compressor was as he was concerned about the risk of overheating. This meant taking a lot of stores out of lockers which we did despite the heat. The compressor was very hot so we have taken the decision to turn it off. We will eat and save what we can but will have to throw the rest. I am trying to order a new compressor and will try and have this fitted in Tahiti.  

We had the usual excitement about our 24 hour run which was 174 nm – this was not too bad despite the fact of lower winds and our slow gybe progress on the other tack. Keith had the closest guess so his prize was a banana which we are still eating and trying to get rid of!. We were still sailing well and heading in the right direction and we will have to decided what we do for the rest of the route as the weather models vary. We stick to our current course for now and will review the situation in the morning.

Charles was on supper duty and we had homemade burgers with fresh bread rolls, ratatouille and butternut squash. This was followed by Pineapple which we needed to eat. It had been a very busy day for us all and this is what it can be like on board and we do all this as well as our shifts and sailing the boat. I hope it gives you a flavour of what life is like.  

Crewing Opportunity

We will arrive in the Marquesas in French Polynesia about 20-23 May 2024 and we will then move through to the Tuamotu’s before getting to Tahiti about the end of July 2024. There may be some space on Stormbird during this period should any sailor/reader be interested in joining for this period or part of it in what must be one of the most distant and beautiful places in the world.

Year Two

In addition, in year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and probably across the Indian Ocean to Cape Town and I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we head off to the Marquesas and beyond.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com  I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk