Should we be worried about Jeanne Socrates

Minn said:
Think I agree with Frank; she’s got past the Great Capes, and the idea of 6,500 miles relying on the autopilot and the water maker would not be my idea of fun. Better put in and get everything sorted under her own control than risk having to ask for outside help later.
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Its not just the reliance on electricity... recent posts suggest her batts aren't in real flash condition... and then this yesterday....
'Just had a major power problem - saw voltage was getting low so started generator - but saw no power going into batteries... When I stopped it, instruments went down - circuit breakers had gone... Couldn't start genset because no power coming in from batteries... Spoke to friend Robert in Sidney, B.C., "Start the main engine," was the advice. Was difficult persuading the engine to start - but it finally did, TG! But then (again) saw no power going in to batteries, although voltage was rising .... too much - clearly not being regulated. Had to stop the engine because battery voltage was way too high - well over 15A (sic). But that meant I could get generator running - ran for two hours... '
I admire her tenacity.
 
Wind gen fixed... thats good news.
Very good advertisement for SuperWind that you can change blades so easily.... couldn't do that on my aerogen.
Zoids... I think you are being a bit hard on Minn... he has sailed with Tilman.... so not quite 'armchair'.
 
Minn said:
From the comfort of my armchair, I think the seamanlike thing to do is to put in and get things sorted. She’s done the great capes. Suppose she loses comms? There would be a search. That would be seriously embarrassing.
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I agree with you as I said in an earlier post I feel she has become fixated on a non stop circumnavigation, she has had the opportunity to take shelter, fix the main, sort out her generating problems and generally clean up and secure the boat. It is not as though she has anything to prove or win so why wouldn't you simply stop, anchor in a quiet bay and take stock.
 
Looks like Nereida and a ‘Pleasure Craft’ have been fairly close for a while now, unless one is a ‘ghost’ of the other on Marine Traffic - with which I am not really familiar.
 
Hydrozoan said:
Looks like Nereida and a ‘Pleasure Craft’ have been fairly close for a while now, unless one is a ‘ghost’ of the other on Marine Traffic - with which I am not really familiar.
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Not quite a ghost but - yes - both are her or she is both....
The named one which is now some hours old is her position as received by a shore side AIS 'station' at Dunedin.... she is now out of range of it....
The un-named 'pleasure craft' is also her ... received by satellite. You can get full details by taking a subscription to Marine Traffic... not sure what a 'single vessel' subscription costs but the full wizzbang one is $10 a day.... I took a 14 day test sub a few years ago.... pretty impressive but the cost is a bit rich for the casual punter like me....
 
Hot off the press....
'2:25pm Just spoke to the Commodore, Kevin Murdoch, of the N.Otago Yacht and Powerboat Club in Oamaru Hbr about coming in and picking up a buoy (under sail) in the harbour sometime over the next day or so in order to get my repairs done. I've had to gain permission from both NZ Customs and Quarantine to do so. Has meant quite a lot of phoning around but finally has turned out OK - thanks to all concerned. I just have to get there first - presently almost no wind and difficult to keep a course.'
Not sure why she can't use her engine....
NZ is pretty good with stuff like this... three years ago I spent 3 days alongside at Mount Manganui without clearing back in while we fixed stuff.....
 
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Frank Holden said:
Not quite a ghost but - yes - both are her or she is both....
The named one which is now some hours old is her position as received by a shore side AIS 'station' at Dunedin.... she is now out of range of it....
The un-named 'pleasure craft' is also her ... received by satellite. You can get full details by taking a subscription to Marine Traffic... not sure what a 'single vessel' subscription costs but the full wizzbang one is $10 a day.... I took a 14 day test sub a few years ago.... pretty impressive but the cost is a bit rich for the casual punter like me....
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I had wondered for a moment if another vessel might have been standing by for some reason, but there was no such indication in Ms Socrates' blog. Thank you for the explanation.
 
Frank Holden said:
Hot off the press....
'2:25pm Just spoke to the Commodore, Kevin Murdoch, of the N.Otago Yacht and Powerboat Club in Oamaru Hbr about coming in and picking up a buoy (under sail) in the harbour sometime over the next day or so in order to get my repairs done. I've had to gain permission from both NZ Customs and Quarantine to do so. Has meant quite a lot of phoning around but finally has turned out OK - thanks to all concerned. I just have to get there first - presently almost no wind and difficult to keep a course.'
Not sure why she can't use her engine....
NZ is pretty good with stuff like this... three years ago I spent 3 days alongside at Mount Manganui without clearing back in while we fixed stuff.....
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That’s certainly the seamanlike thing to do. Maybe engine has lost interest in starting?
 
Frank Holden said:
Zoids... I think you are being a bit hard on Minn... he has sailed with Tilman.... so not quite 'armchair'.
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RONG!

There are plenty of fully-qualified 'Armchair Admirals' lurking on this and adjacent sites, and I certainly don't mean to include 'Minn' and 'Holden', both of whom have earned their stripes.
However, surely we can still take a different slant on something going on far, far away without it necessarily becoming personal? Surely one of the benefits of hearabouts is that we can exchange our different 'takes' on things and consider them, without that descending into something lesser?

'Play the ball, not the man'....?


Meanwhile, Ms Socrates continues her masterclass in long-distance blue (grey ) water seamanship.....
 
Dunno about that... mainsail sounds well beyond its 'best before'...
'As we were sailing up the channel, before increasing sail in the ever-lessening wind, to my disbelief, the port side lazyjack broke and the stowed sail fell down to the deck unhelpfully - yet another job suddenly added to the list while here. That meant that, when dropped, the mainsail ended up all over the deck, making it that much more of an effort to tie it all to the boom later. In doing that, I noticed that where the sail was torn in a few places, the tears had increased - more work to do while here.'
 
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