Fantastic sailing

Hi all
 
Fantastic sailing on board BTP this afternoon as the wind has started to appear and push me fast towards the finish at least as far as Buenos Aires. The seas are small with a long, low swell, the sun is shining and there are no squalls on the horizon, what could be more ideal! This wind is the one that has been allowing Dee and Arnaud to catch me rapidly over the last 24 hours, and although I am just in the leading edge of the wind field, it should be enough to start stemming the losses. There must be a lot of wind just a hundred miles behind for Dee to go so fast with just a heavily reefed mainsail!  On the other hand I should start making good gains on particularly Sam ahead.
 
Last night I fixed the engine problem that I had, which was caused by the clutch sticking on the engine driven hydraulic pump. This was overheating and causing the burning smell I had earlier. To repair it, I had to ease the clutch away from the engine, and then cut some shim plate and use it to keep the clutch away from the engine by just .2mm.
 
Now working on the open port iridium communication system and the wind generator. Happily the solar panels are really kicking in some power in the bright Southern hemisphere sun and clear air. I am getting 12 amps at 24 volts surplus above my 6 amps power draw. I would be really keen on working on the alternative energy sources for this boat. It is particularly applicable to a really long race like the Vendee, where it adds redundancy, saves weight and reduces our carbon footprint. With a combination of the latest technology solar panels, wind generators, and a specially developed water generator off the transom it could provide all the power needed. If I was to go cruising I would certainly put all these on my boat and make it self sufficient for really long periods. Its been interesting to see what an impact the alternative energy has made to our fuel consumption on this trip, I think I am taking less than half the fuel of most boats.
 
Earlier today I had to stop for 20 minutes to clear weed from the keel and the leeward rudder. There are lots of clumps of heavy kelp around, probably broken free during storms from the Falkland islands. I rolled the gennaker, trimmed in the mainsail, eased off the mast rotator and runners and spun the boat into the wind. It soon weathercocked head to wind and started to go backwards. I saw the kelp come off the rudder and a little bit float away from the keel. I went down to the bow and looked underwater with the endoscope, there was still kelp on the keel, that had somehow wrapped itself around the keel fin. I then tried sailing off on port tack, but that did not dislodge it, and I was pondering whether I would have to go swimming in the 9 degree water, as I went head to wind again and then tried sailing off on starboard. Luckily for me, that did the trick, and the weed had gone when I checked again.
 
The interesting part of this little pitstop was that a couple of albatross that had been following me, decided not to fly around waiting for me to start sailing, and landed near the boat, and proceeded to start some sort of domestic dispute or courtship display with much raising of wings and lifting of heads. When I finally got sailing again I happened to pass just to windward of them, which blocked their take off, and I had a good look at them swimming, and at their size. They are a seagull on steroids - the size of a small swan up close. They are magnificent birds and in my book on Antarctic wildlife it says that watching  an albatross at sea is the ultimate experience for birders. That is pretty incredible to think that of the birders (twitchers) who spend their spare time and money travelling the world seeing every bird, most dream of seeing albatross soaring the Southern Seas, and I have been lucky enough to spend over a month, night and day with these incredible fliers.
 
Otherwise, I was feeling quite tired after a couple of days with hardly any sleep, due to the proximity of land and the storms, so this morning caught up in sleep, which has recharged the batteries ready for the racing to come.
 
All the best
 
Brian