04/08 WE DON'T NEED DARWIN'S HELP
Heading out of Balboa, Panama on our longest haul yet, all eyes were on Galapagos Islands. We knew before setting out that stopping there was unlikely - what with it being a nature reserve and all, and sodding expensive. We headed that way anyhow as a contingency, the only bit of land for 3000nm.
We needed a waypoint and secretly we hoped we'd need it. Murphy and his laws thought they'd step in and make the call for us...
About 600nm from the islands, motoring against both wind and current, Div suspected trouble. "Can you hear that tuk-tuk-tuk?" he asked us. Apparently among the 250 different tuks and rattles our Yamaha engines make at any one time, a rouge tuk was hiding in the port side engine. Sure as shit the next day the thing is spewing black and our deck looks like we parked on Saldanha’s ore jetty for the night. Well, he knows what's up but can't open her up whilst under sail for fear of getting water splashed in the wrong place. He also needs a feeler gauge and can perform the delicate operation given the inaccuracies caused by the rough sea state. He gave it a once over anyhow and found that the diesel filter needs replacing too. What are the chances R&C packed us a spare? Ha! Perhaps we should pull in somewhere and drop anchor.
We are 300nm from the Galapagos Islands, lying on our bac
ks, catching some sun on the upper deck, staring at the top of the mast. We're fantasizing about getting enough wind to warrant raising the main and adding some speed to our equation. We noticed something's a miss and got the binocs (it's a far way up). The main halyard is frayed! The pulley at the top of the mast chaffed through the outer layer and was literally hanging on by a thread. No way in hell it would survive one more hoisting of the main. We'd just have to hoist Div instead. Mind you, we did so in St Helena while at anchor and he nearly soiled himself, or at the very least ensured no little Divvies being born. So going up in swell was not an option. Perhaps if we got into the lee of the islands...?
Now 100nm from Galapagos islands, you know, auto helm is a beautiful thing. Bless those Japanese and their gadgets! It means that one person on watch is sufficient.
The boat drives it's self while you fuss and do stuff and keep a general look out. Sure now and again it conks in heavy weather and we have to hand steer for a bit. Never more than 12hrs though. That is to say before the thing died! I woke up 20min early one morning for my shift and stumbled through the saloon in search of coffee. There's Div on all fours head in a cupboard, tools strewn everywhere and our galley is 'not serving'. He'd been up for the last 3 hours dismantling the thing. Thank god it was Johann's shift. Not a problem, it was fixed for mine, though I steered anyway, just to let the gears settle. 20 hours later it conked again! Aah, hell! Think they could fix it in Galapagos?
20nm from Pinta. Johan’s solution to the engine was somewhat rudimentary.
Kick it and hope for the best! I can't imagine his TV’s last very long.
Divvie made it up the mast anyhow, with a harness, bow swains chair, 2 safety lines and a Leatherman. I had little doubts though a ripple of concern did go through me when I had to remind him how my knife did not swim very well. It was not awarded a safety line! The auto helm has been dismantled 4 times now and sports a stylish new disc fashioned by yours truly out of a plastic bucket. So, with a knot holding up our main sail, engines coughing and sporadically spewing black shit and hand steering to assist a fragile auto helm we'll make it to Tahiti yet! Murphy better be standing on the dock with a beer and a smoke for all!
We did not stop in Galapagos. Tahiti is 1700nm away...
We needed a waypoint and secretly we hoped we'd need it. Murphy and his laws thought they'd step in and make the call for us...
About 600nm from the islands, motoring against both wind and current, Div suspected trouble. "Can you hear that tuk-tuk-tuk?" he asked us. Apparently among the 250 different tuks and rattles our Yamaha engines make at any one time, a rouge tuk was hiding in the port side engine. Sure as shit the next day the thing is spewing black and our deck looks like we parked on Saldanha’s ore jetty for the night. Well, he knows what's up but can't open her up whilst under sail for fear of getting water splashed in the wrong place. He also needs a feeler gauge and can perform the delicate operation given the inaccuracies caused by the rough sea state. He gave it a once over anyhow and found that the diesel filter needs replacing too. What are the chances R&C packed us a spare? Ha! Perhaps we should pull in somewhere and drop anchor.
We are 300nm from the Galapagos Islands, lying on our bac
ks, catching some sun on the upper deck, staring at the top of the mast. We're fantasizing about getting enough wind to warrant raising the main and adding some speed to our equation. We noticed something's a miss and got the binocs (it's a far way up). The main halyard is frayed! The pulley at the top of the mast chaffed through the outer layer and was literally hanging on by a thread. No way in hell it would survive one more hoisting of the main. We'd just have to hoist Div instead. Mind you, we did so in St Helena while at anchor and he nearly soiled himself, or at the very least ensured no little Divvies being born. So going up in swell was not an option. Perhaps if we got into the lee of the islands...?Now 100nm from Galapagos islands, you know, auto helm is a beautiful thing. Bless those Japanese and their gadgets! It means that one person on watch is sufficient.
The boat drives it's self while you fuss and do stuff and keep a general look out. Sure now and again it conks in heavy weather and we have to hand steer for a bit. Never more than 12hrs though. That is to say before the thing died! I woke up 20min early one morning for my shift and stumbled through the saloon in search of coffee. There's Div on all fours head in a cupboard, tools strewn everywhere and our galley is 'not serving'. He'd been up for the last 3 hours dismantling the thing. Thank god it was Johann's shift. Not a problem, it was fixed for mine, though I steered anyway, just to let the gears settle. 20 hours later it conked again! Aah, hell! Think they could fix it in Galapagos?
20nm from Pinta. Johan’s solution to the engine was somewhat rudimentary.Kick it and hope for the best! I can't imagine his TV’s last very long.
Divvie made it up the mast anyhow, with a harness, bow swains chair, 2 safety lines and a Leatherman. I had little doubts though a ripple of concern did go through me when I had to remind him how my knife did not swim very well. It was not awarded a safety line! The auto helm has been dismantled 4 times now and sports a stylish new disc fashioned by yours truly out of a plastic bucket. So, with a knot holding up our main sail, engines coughing and sporadically spewing black shit and hand steering to assist a fragile auto helm we'll make it to Tahiti yet! Murphy better be standing on the dock with a beer and a smoke for all!
We did not stop in Galapagos. Tahiti is 1700nm away...
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