We have been on the water heading south for 7 days now. We have traveled about 720 miles. The weather / seas have been kind to us for the most part. We feel extremely fortunate. Our overnight in Crescent City allowed us to avoid a small system of weather that was passing through.
Anna Mae continues to perform amazingly well.
We have been averaging 9 knots at 13.5 RPM's with a fuel burn of 5.2
We have corrected a few mechanical issues.
Our 20 KW Generator was exhausting steam when we started it in Astoria... Bill and Bob discovered the ball valve broke from the raw water feed in the sea chest.
The big issue for us has been the Auto pilots. We have two AP20's that we had tuned in July. They performed flawlessly during our circumnavigation this summer around Vancouver Island. When we returned home to Portland, Bill changed the valves to soft starts and replaced the fluid. We have learned that if we are having problems with a system we will go first to the last thing we worked on and rule that out first. We where having trouble in following seas. With crazy unexpected turns and a very slow counter rudder. This makes a very tense and stressful journey. Our leg between Astoria and Crescent City was very exciting with Anna Mae taking on a unpredictable personality all her own. She kept us on our toes...
We overnighted in Crescent city and made double sure our next leg through ape Mendocino would be calm. That stretch was terrifying for me last time... Well, in the night the wind picked up and with the following seas again 5-8 at 6 seconds, with an unpredictable AP we where all on edge. No danger, just frustration. At one point we where nose to nose with Spring Day, Yikes!!!
The next day Bill and Bob decided to see how the boat would steer in standby, and discovered the line was really sloppy. With further inspection the isolation valve in the steering manifold was open slightly, allowing AW32 hydraulic fluid to travel back and forth. A few weeks ago Bill flushed out the AP pump and re worked the cooling fans. A wire flipped around and hit him in the eye... Apparently at that time the valve was bumped... We have learned so much through this experience, I think I might even be able to program the AP's in a pinch. I absolutely know what the lock setting does and how to change it out quickly...
This trip valves have given us grief, which is much easier to live with than engine failure of motor mount replacements.
Through the little mishaps we have experienced on this trip Bob has been here cheering us on. He has baked us his famous cookies, and always with a smile.
Speaking of SMILES. All of our exciting moments seem to happen in the wee hours of the morning... When our engine over heated on the 2011 Fubar I woke Bob up around 4am to get his advice. When our AP decided to turn us around into a sharp turn at 9 knots in following seas, it was 2am. Last night when we all needed a good nights sleep at 2am a sea lion decided to pound on our hull repeatedly in various locations making a horrible noise. We all woke up stunned thinking our anchor had drug and we where hitting the rocks. During all these eventful episodes Bill, Bob and I have been running around the boat in our PJ's and at times underwear. trying to fixe whatever the issue may be. I am so glad we can laugh at ourselves and have these wonderful memories.
As I type this post we are traveling down the California coast in comfort. I look out my salon port window and see Spring Day traveling along side of ua. I can't help but anticipate the amazing adventures we have ahead of us, and feel so fortunate.
Anna Mae continues to perform amazingly well.
We have been averaging 9 knots at 13.5 RPM's with a fuel burn of 5.2
We have corrected a few mechanical issues.
Our 20 KW Generator was exhausting steam when we started it in Astoria... Bill and Bob discovered the ball valve broke from the raw water feed in the sea chest.
The big issue for us has been the Auto pilots. We have two AP20's that we had tuned in July. They performed flawlessly during our circumnavigation this summer around Vancouver Island. When we returned home to Portland, Bill changed the valves to soft starts and replaced the fluid. We have learned that if we are having problems with a system we will go first to the last thing we worked on and rule that out first. We where having trouble in following seas. With crazy unexpected turns and a very slow counter rudder. This makes a very tense and stressful journey. Our leg between Astoria and Crescent City was very exciting with Anna Mae taking on a unpredictable personality all her own. She kept us on our toes...
We overnighted in Crescent city and made double sure our next leg through ape Mendocino would be calm. That stretch was terrifying for me last time... Well, in the night the wind picked up and with the following seas again 5-8 at 6 seconds, with an unpredictable AP we where all on edge. No danger, just frustration. At one point we where nose to nose with Spring Day, Yikes!!!
The next day Bill and Bob decided to see how the boat would steer in standby, and discovered the line was really sloppy. With further inspection the isolation valve in the steering manifold was open slightly, allowing AW32 hydraulic fluid to travel back and forth. A few weeks ago Bill flushed out the AP pump and re worked the cooling fans. A wire flipped around and hit him in the eye... Apparently at that time the valve was bumped... We have learned so much through this experience, I think I might even be able to program the AP's in a pinch. I absolutely know what the lock setting does and how to change it out quickly...
This trip valves have given us grief, which is much easier to live with than engine failure of motor mount replacements.
Through the little mishaps we have experienced on this trip Bob has been here cheering us on. He has baked us his famous cookies, and always with a smile.
Speaking of SMILES. All of our exciting moments seem to happen in the wee hours of the morning... When our engine over heated on the 2011 Fubar I woke Bob up around 4am to get his advice. When our AP decided to turn us around into a sharp turn at 9 knots in following seas, it was 2am. Last night when we all needed a good nights sleep at 2am a sea lion decided to pound on our hull repeatedly in various locations making a horrible noise. We all woke up stunned thinking our anchor had drug and we where hitting the rocks. During all these eventful episodes Bill, Bob and I have been running around the boat in our PJ's and at times underwear. trying to fixe whatever the issue may be. I am so glad we can laugh at ourselves and have these wonderful memories.
As I type this post we are traveling down the California coast in comfort. I look out my salon port window and see Spring Day traveling along side of ua. I can't help but anticipate the amazing adventures we have ahead of us, and feel so fortunate.
No comments:
Post a Comment