6/14/15- Fri departed about 5pm. Very light winds. Motored east about an hour to get clear of the reefs then turned off the engine and sailed under spinnaker and double reefed main, because it was not that far from sunset, and full main didn’t let the spinnaker draw fully. Beautiful sailing at about 2.5 kts, calm seas all thru Saturday and wind picked up at noon so we made 5 kts. Really pleasant conditions.
Problem 1: The alternator smart regulator went out as soon as we left the harbor. I have two spare alternators, but no spare regulator. I might be able to fix it, but since don’t plan to motor much, or need that power…decided to continue.
We have solar panels, which provide more power as we get farther north and the days are longer. Also when cloudy it’s usually windy and the AquaAir towed generator does well when sailing. Right now we’re getting 5 amps, and that’s 24 hrs /day. If power gets low we can shut off the fridge. My first boat didn’t have one, so losing it is merely an inconvenience.
Problem 2: Early this morning it picked up to 12-16kts apparent and the spinnaker tore from foot to head, just after Anders came on watch. Lucky him.
The tear started at a grommet for the foot line. A weak spot. That’s why I brought an extra spinnaker. I’ll be more careful with this one. Just disappointed to lose it so early in the longest leg of the trip.
0600 we set the hank-on genoa.
Wind seems a little stiff for the remaining spinnaker since I don’t want to risk it. Seas are up to 2-3 meters and it’s very uncomfortable today. The spinnaker does a much better job of dampening the roll. We are wing and wing now running dead downwind on a course of 60T, 5.5kts
Otherwise the trip is going great and we are well on our way!
Lat 34.039303 Lon -62.296343