Sea Dragon
Photo: eXXpedition
The Future, climate, and toxics
After our trawl work, we had a mission. We are supporting a campaign called The Future. This campaign is spreading awareness on climate change and telling our politicians “we are keeping an eye on you” by watching the political process and policies being created (or lack thereof). To represent The Future campaign, we encircled one eye with black or red makeup (eco-friendly) and took photos to share. We feel our mission of exposing toxics in our environment is connected to The Future’s mission, as well..
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www.panexplore.com/news/ships-blog/
Kristine
Careful what you wish for.
Irony strikes again – this was definitely an intense surprise day.
Not long after our usual jack-ass breakfast, the front sail fell down. It completely loosened from the genoa halyard and was floating around in the water. Not exactly what you would want to happen to your main “engine” on a big crossing. In addition, the fuel tank was blinking red and a squall was approaching.
We got the sail on board but had to get the halyard down from the mast. By the time dad had climbed to the top, the squall arrived, making the operation a lot more intense. When we finally got the sail properly up, the wind disappeared completely (of course), so we had to roll it in and wait. Having learned a lesson not to trust the weather, we quickly used the opportunity to fill our extra diesel and take a “hot bath”, now in 36°.
Papy Jovial
Sail in sight
This morning at 08:00 local time (TU-2) JP saw a sail on the horizon. It got nearer quickly because we were on opposite tacks and at 08:40 TUMI boat number 41 sailed across our bow around 50 meters away.
Tumi
It gained on us but slowly so JP decided to set the gennaker. Unfortunately the sock kept wrapping itself around the sail and after one hour of hard work on the part of JP, the attempt was aborted to be resumed after lunch.
The weather is postcard standard, blue sea, few clouds and a soft following wind around 15 knots. Today JP is cooking the last piece of meat while it is still safe to eat with a fridge out of order. All in all the loss of perishables has been limited and we will now switch to non-perishable. We have enough to last until we arrive in Martinique. Then we will take care of the bacteria with good rum punch and spicy food.
Om
Antonio at the farewell party in Arrecife as all sailors received a special presentation from the island. With his daughters Indra and Anita.
All is well. The weather has been light for a day and, typical, just after dark we had to take down the spinnaker in more than 30 knots. The wind came up fast but we were on guard and I have to say that the maneuver with Tosca, Connor, Anita, Myself and Christian went perfectly.
We have been sailing with code zero since. Possibly one knot or less of speed but a lot less pressure on the gear. In my previous experience I found out that the hard sailing comes at a price. I did push the boat going south from the Canaries, for the sake of not losing Longitude but now we are cautious that there may be lines, halyards, little things that are a bit chafed from the sun and pressure on blocks and parts of the rig.
See also: Last days of the Atlantic Crossing
Mandarina
Jean and Jean Claude Lemoine on Mandarina take delivery of their drifter buoy
Our drifter buoy, number 132678, was deployed today at 13h20 GMT, position 15’30.786N, 45’00.578W
Nous avons largué la balise, n° balise 132678, larguée le 3 décembre 2014 à
13h20 utc N15’30.786 – W45’00.578
Vent entre 4 à 9 noeuds, c’est lent !
Gazel Rebel
Qui a dit monotone ?
Depuis hier soir les situations les plus variées s’enchaînent. Confit de canard délicieux sous clair de lune et trinquettes jumelles façon Pogo puis pétole au coeur de la nuit et chasse aux grains au petit matin, résultat : 20 litres de pluie récoltés par Pierre et Damien pendant qu’Antoine ronflait. Puis à nouveau pétole, l’occasion pour Antoine d’aller vérifier la propreté de la coque sous l’eau. Quelques minis anatifes pendouillent, sont-ce eux qui empêchent notre gazelle de planer ? Après quelques heures de moteur, reprise du vent et du spi. Comme dit Pascal notre rally control (confident, ami…)
Nous tenons le bon angle mais aurons nous assez de vent pour bien en profiter? Sinon le soleil tape dur mais la machine à glace tourne à fond.
NYenergi
Bonjour à tous,
Hier à 7h00 notre pilote auto est tombé en panne.
Nous avons repris la barre jusqu’à 12h00 et avons passé 5h00 à la cape pour
diagnostiquer et tenter une réparation :
– rupture de l’accouplement du pilote sur le secteur de barre (soudure arrachée)
– accouplement cintré
– tête de vérin de pilote endommagé
Impossible de faire une vraie réparation avec les moyens du bord !
Un premier bricolage nous a permis de naviguer sous pilote quelques heures mais à 22h00 il a fallu s’arrêter à nouveau pour modifier l’accouplement de la tête de vérin. Nous avons remis à la voile vers 11h00 ce matin.
Depuis notre accouplement de fortune fonctionne (à un près) mais nous devons soulager un maximum le pilote. Il va falloir barrer le plus souvent possible et réserver le pilote pour le repos de l’équipage.
Pour la prochaine transat, c’est promis, j’emporte un atelier complet (poste à soudure, cintreuse, perceuse à colonne, etc…).
Nous venons d’empanner il y a une heure.
Moral et santé OK malgré nos soucis techniques.
L’équipage de NYenergi vous souhaite une belle journée.
Cordialement
Cathie, Dan, Suzie et Mat à bord de NYenergi.
You can see the position of the boats on the tracking map. The weather forecast is here
