Frontal System Arrived

Author: Mark
Date: August 22, 9.00pm MST
Location: 20 11.893 S - 165 18.436 W
Conditions: 18-22kts SW, 6.3kts SOG, confused seas, All is well

We are still in route to Beveridge Reef. We expect to be there tomorrow. All is going well aboard Field Trip. It will have been over 800NM crossing the 'Dangerous Middle' - with no major issues. We are currently getting a little clobbered with wind, but that was expected. We wanted to arrive early today, but the winds were lighter than anticipated so we were sailing slower. Now the wind has certainly picked up, with the sea state being real messy.

The biggest issue we had was today. We had to hove to for about six hours. Our Jefa autopilot motor gave us more problems. ARG. The Furuno has been rock solid, but the Jefa unit not so much. For the second time on a long passage the four mounting bolts somehow backed themselves out, the motor spun around shearing off the clutch wires. There is definitely something amiss with the four bolts and small vibrations from the motor. I'll add loctite before our next long passage, and see if that helps. The issue is the bolts themselves have some form of grease on them, so I will have to clean the sockets and threads thoroughly before adding Loctite.

Everyone aboard is doing well. Today has been the roughest by far of the entire trip. But everyone has their sea legs so no issues with getting sick. Whew! :)

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ulithi Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

Skinny Dipping

Off the Beaten Path - Cruising Sumatra's West Coast!