Through the Rio doldrums

Hi there
 
BTP is through the Rio doldrums and heading up past the coast of Brasil. Sailing upwind in 6-13 knots of breeze, the wind is quite shifty with more squalls than usual in this part of the world, but we are making decent stop’n go progress towards Les Sables. The air here is crystal clear so the clouds are incredibly sharp. At night the stars are almost down to the horizon. The sun at midday is straight above me as the sun’s declination is similar to the boat’s latitude, so the combination of clear air and the vertical sun could make a recipe for sunburn.
 
But little chance of sunburn as just when I thought I would start getting on top of the job list a spanner gets thrown at me!
 
Both Sunday and today I have spent a lot of time working on the alternator down below. It had overheated in the early hours of Sunday because the fan disc at the front had become loose and then damaged. I had the old alternator, and I tried to cannibalise the parts of that, and it took most of the day on Sunday to take apart, as it had been put together with powerful air tools. Eventually I got it done, which was a big relief, and ran the engine. Concurrently, I worked on the wind generator which was not charging either, but have not yet solved that one.
 
Today I noticed that the alternator fan disc was still not quite right and worked again on improvements by further adapting the 2 broken alternators to make one good one.  Fingers crossed this time it’s a winner, I will be trying it tonight. Many thanks again to Dave Llewlellyn in Falmouth for his remote advice, which has been really helpful.. I also found, by chance, that my fellow Britpack sailor, Steve White, is also something of an alternator expert after all his work restoring vintage cars.
 
Have seen a few ships lately so have been working on the collision avoidance gear, which has been having a few problems. I talked to a ship on the VHF, the Tokyo Star, that was just 2 miles away. He confirmed that my AIS system is now working. AIS is a sort of air traffic control system for the sea, so that all ships can be seen on each other’s computer and radar screens. So I am looking the same as a ship to them, which is good news. Also, I can see the ships on my computer screen.
 
All these repairs mean that I cannot be quite as on top of the sailing as I would like and I consequently end up more reacting to events rather than anticipating them and taking best advantage of them. Using squalls would be an example of this, and I am letting the pilot do all the steering except in the lightest conditions and biggest of gusts. I have lost a little to Sam and Marc, but I think that is more a function of the differing winds we have. I am still on deck every 10 minutes, but then I am usually back below to continue work straight away. Overall, the boat is going well with the J1 and the full main. At times, I take a short break and just watch the boat sail, and take in the amazing SE tradewind scenery of sky, clouds and sea.
 
And there can be a great sense of satisfaction to have overcome another set of hurdles. At the same time the mileage to Les Sables shrinking, and that’s when the checks, repairs and maintenance will end.
 
Big congratulations to Rich Wilson on getting round the Horn, I know he will be mightily relieved, especially as he had to sail the whole Pacific very much on his own, with little chance of quick rescue if things went wrong, so he has done a super job. Just two more boats left in the Southern Ocean now!
 
Sea temp at 1540S 3600W is a steamy 28.5 degrees…
 
All the best to everyone
 
Brian