52) 842nm ENE of Barbados

16° 11.271 N 45° 24.886 W

842nm ENE of Barbados

We have been sailing consistently for about 2-3 days now and it appears that we are in the trade winds.  Finally!  The odd thing is that once we get the regular trades the autopilot regularly craps out.  According to the red line, follow east from the boat, make the turn left to the north east, follow to the right again and before it turns left again is where we started hand steering.  We will end up hand steering the final 1,400nm to Barbados.

There are so many things that fail along the way on sailboats and I think more things fail on older boats.  Here’s a quick run-down of some of the things we have had to deal with: electrical anomaly in the engine wiring that activated the over heating alarm; the primary windlass foot switch stopped working; forward port lower lifeline retainer clip and pin fell off and released the line to sag; lost the pelican clip for the boarding lifeline; lost a retainer clip and pin that held up a block on the toe rail; the anti-siphon valve for the generator failed causing water to overflow onto the cabin floor; the batteries are running down too fast even though we are not using the autopilot and conserving; the refrigerator is as old as the boat and inefficient; we don’t know how much water or diesel is in the main tanks because none of the gauges work; all the engine gauges were taken off-line due to an electrical anomaly; the Genoa is tattered; some of the portholes and hatches leak; the bucket was dropped over board and lost; the hydraulic steering is sloppy and needs to be serviced; the dodger window was lost; when the generator runs out of fuel it triggers the navigation computer to turn off and we lose the data; the compass is not lighted; the nav lights failed at night due to an electrical anomaly; the stereo is wired incorrectly in mono and floating a ground; there is no saltwater supplied to the galley; freshwater toilets waste freshwater; the galley drain hole is below the waterline due to an upgraded counter top and doesn’t drain well; the seal on the refer is poor and the freezer is an igloo;  the winches do not grab the lines correctly, the lines creep if you put more than 1-2 wraps; all the running rigging is stiff; the mainsail is furled in the mast and tends to get stuck (only John deals with the main); if the day tank is full it overflows into the salon in very rough seas; the dinghy has an un-repairable leak and we have to fill it before using it each way; etc.

Granted, some of these items are not broken things but just not in ideal condition.  

Saturday 12.17.05 400pm

16° 15.230 N 45° 55.324 W 814 ENE of Barbados

I got off watch at 9am and read, listened to music and slept till my next watch at 1pm.  First thing Alan asks while I was in the cockpit is if we can fly the spinnaker.  I said it’s up to John and I am all for it.  I told him to dig it out and lay it on the deck to inspect it.  They had been talking and realize that we are not going to make it to Barbados when they want to which is when their wives will be there.  Alan says that we are behind schedule and I said no we are not.  I said people made plans and you never make plans to meet a boat that tight.  Danielle leaves tomorrow for Barbados and we won’t get there at a minimum of 7 more days.  Now we are too high and are struggling to make it down there.

John rigged it and pulled the halyard and Alan trimmed the sheet.  Alan asked if there was anything he should know and I said that he should wear gloves in case the sheet runs.  He shrugged it off.  The sail is up.  We were able to point the boat directly at Barbados and we are not going NW anymore.  But the speed is low.  It’s because it is a small asymmetrical spinnaker and no larger than the Genoa.  I said it did what it is supposed to do and that is allowing us to change our heading.  The wind is about 10 and the boat speed is 4.  I feel if the wind gets back in the high teens we will get to 6.  Nancy said the wind is supposed to move closer to North.  If that happens we benefit and then get to speed up on a beam reach.  At 7 last night a tanker passed behind us about a mile away.  I heard the engine rumble.  I look at the distance to Barbados everyday and count it 1 day for each 100 miles.  I think we’ll get there in 8 days.  They are already planning on when they can turn on the engine.  We have to be within 200 miles because that is all the fuel we have on deck in containers.