Around Alone Days-184-185-186.
Day-184.
24hr.Run=136nm. Pos. Lat.24*43’S. Long.97*41’W. Weather=Bar=1002mb.Wind=N 10-25kts. Seas=N 6-10ft. Cabin Temp=75*-77*.
Day-185.
24hr.Run=147nm. Pos. Lat.23*19’S. Long.95*32’W. Weather=Bar=1006mb. Wind=N 10-22kts. Seas6-10ft.N. Cabin Temp=74*-76*
Day186.
24hr.Run=129nm. Pos. Lat.22*16 S. Long.93*37’W. WeatherBar=1009mb.Winds=10-15kts N. Seas=6-8ft.N. Cabin Temp=75*-78*.
Total miles sailed so far=23,329nm.
Miles sailed last 3-days=418nm.
Distance left to go to Finish off Bahia=1501nm.
Top speed so far=14.1kts.
The Rest of the Story:
Day-184.
Today sailing close to the wind pounding into 20-25kts of breeze, pretty much on course.
Later in the morning I found my self digging down into the “get out quick bag”, looking for the hand operated water maker. Once I had found it I turned over the sealed plastic it was wrapped in and read a warning on the wrapper that said this Pur-06 water maker must be serviced annually by an authorized dealer, Hmmmmmmm! Lets see I put it in the bag 17+ years ago and now I need it to make water today, Hmmmmmm!
Conditions are pretty rough to make almost anything but I decide the galley sink is the best place to set up this operation. I use a 2-gallon bucket to fetch salt water from over the side of the boat, then place it in the sink and drop the pick up line from the water maker in the bucket and place the waste water lie in the sink where it can drain out. The Product water goes into a 1-quart gator aid bottle.
Now you must purge the unit getting rid of the biocide preservative and that takes 80 strokes once you have water coming out of the product water tube.
My friend Eric warned me about this amazing piece of equipment and how much work they are, but until you actually experience it, it’s hard to imagine.
I pumped on the thing for an hour and had gone through at least 10gallons of salt water and felt for sure I should have a quart of drinking water. That however was not the case, what I did have was more like 5-6-ounces of drinkable water. Now this equates to 7-hrs of pumping just for the water to make a pot of coffee, Hmmmm! That salty water in the tank is starting to taste not so bad after all; you know just add more sugar.
I have decided I will make maybe half the coffee water with the water maker and get the rest from the salty stuff in the tank.
Day-185.
Once again great sailing today and seen the first cargo ship since New Zealand, as it showed up on the A.I.S. crossing our bow some 17nm. ahead of us. The ship appeared to be coming from Chili headed west.
Faced with a water shortage onboard you start thinking about things differently, such as now when I heat up vegetables for dinner I no longer drain the vegetables but instead drink that extra liquid that comes in each can, and any other liquid or juice like with the canned fruit. I also have 5-liters of apple and peach juice that I have held back on drinking for just such an occasion that I will be ration out over the remainder of the voyage.
I have 3-quarts of water in the get out quick bag that I can also use to help with the fresh water for coffee.
My friends Brent & Susan also reminded me that there should be several gallons of water in my hot water tank. I can get at that by using my Hooka compressor to blow all the water out of the lines as well as the tank
Well today Debbie flys out headed for Bahia Caraquez, Ecuador. I know she has a sleeping bag, but I don’t believe she has a tent. I can only hope if it rains she has enough “sense” to sleep under the bridge by a support column, “just kidding” I hope.
Day-186.
Great sailing today under trade wind clouds in blue skies and about 15-knots of breeze.
I have not yet reached the SE trades. The high that helps fuel the trades is just NE of me and it looks like I will have to sail through a portion of the center to get into those winds that I will use to drive me to Bahia.
Since I have been dealing with this water shortage and pumping my arms off with this water maker, my thoughts have drifted all over this salt water thing, and something doesn’t seem to make sense. So here we go, as I deplete the water in my tank it becomes more and more salty. Now the pump sucks off the bottom of the tank, and that makes me think the salt water must be on top of the fresh water. The problem with that is I always believed that fresh water floats on top of the saltwater. Now if the salt water is actually floating on top of the fresh water does that mean that if you have enough hose out on the ocean you could weight it down and lower it to where you would be sucking up nearly fresh water????Hmmmm????
Getting saltier by the day the Jefe’.