L'Eau Commotion Westabout
An (other) attempt to sail non stop Westabout around the world
| Vessel Name: | L'Eau Commotion |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Northshore 38 |
| Hailing Port: | Brisbane Australia |
| Crew: | Bill Hatfield |
25 February 2020 | Scarborough Marina, Brisbane
21 February 2020
21 February 2020 | 59 Miles To Go
20 February 2020 | 114 Miles East Of Australia
19 February 2020 | 220 Miles East Of Gold Coast Seaway
19 February 2020 | 262 Miles To Gold Coast Seaway
18 February 2020 | 304 Miles East Of Gold Coast Seaway
18 February 2020 | 328 Miles To Go
17 February 2020 | 423 Miles To Go
17 February 2020 | 423 Miles To Go
16 February 2020 | 505 Miles East Of The Gold Coast
15 February 2020 | 617 Miles To Go
14 February 2020 | 755 Miles To Go
13 February 2020 | 888 Miles To The Gold Coast
12 February 2020 | 1032 Miles To The Gold Coast
11 February 2020 | 580 Miles North Of The Waikato
11 February 2020 | 1167 Miles To Home
10 February 2020 | 1300 Miles To Home
10 February 2020 | 1309 Miles To The Gold Coast
09 February 2020 | 1460 Miles To The Gold Coast Seaway
Recent Blog Posts
20 February 2020 | 114 Miles East Of Australia
ETA Looking Likely
Day 258 6am Friday 21st February 2020
19 February 2020 | 220 Miles East Of Gold Coast Seaway
Amended ETA
Day 257 6am Thursday 20th February 2020
19 February 2020 | 262 Miles To Gold Coast Seaway
Amended ETA
Day 256 10:30pm Wednesday 19th February 2020 ( UTC+10 )
Southern Ocean Hydro 2.0
20 June 2019 | 280 Miles South of Adelaide, South Australia
Day 13 6pm Thursday 20th June 2019 ( UTC+9 )
I was a bit gypped last night having to constantly pop up and down to eke out just a very few miles from the winds that did everything else but blow but then I realised I was just entering a new time zone and could sleep in for an extra hour. And so it came to be with a nice light South to South Easter giving me adequate opportunity to get over the grumbles and enjoy the solitude.
Except for the rumbles emanating from the hydrogenerator. Carefully harnessed I tilted up the prop and all was clear and turning freely. The speeds we were making were below the effective generating range but the mostly bright sunshine had the solar panel doing what it does best except when the sun went down. As the voltage was down a bit to what it should be I kicked over the diesel and after a few minutes the voltage was good so shut it down - but the rumble continued. Now I know I am in South Australian waters and that's how they do things down here - kick over the big diesels producing 415v AC convert it to DC and charge Elon's Lithium Ions then convert it back to High Voltage and send it through the interstate connector to the Snowy and pump water uphill and then send it downhill through the turbines to produce clean green power and send it back through the interstate. Now this is all very well if you have good contacts in Kuwait and an unlimited budget to buy diesel, neither of which I have with only 100 litres of distillate to last me for the year, so there had to be a better way. When faced with such a dilemma I turned to that method of last resort - Consult The Manual. Troubleshooting.
Two red flashes every five seconds - loose connection.
Connection tightened.
Problem solved.
Planet Saved.
I was a bit gypped last night having to constantly pop up and down to eke out just a very few miles from the winds that did everything else but blow but then I realised I was just entering a new time zone and could sleep in for an extra hour. And so it came to be with a nice light South to South Easter giving me adequate opportunity to get over the grumbles and enjoy the solitude.
Except for the rumbles emanating from the hydrogenerator. Carefully harnessed I tilted up the prop and all was clear and turning freely. The speeds we were making were below the effective generating range but the mostly bright sunshine had the solar panel doing what it does best except when the sun went down. As the voltage was down a bit to what it should be I kicked over the diesel and after a few minutes the voltage was good so shut it down - but the rumble continued. Now I know I am in South Australian waters and that's how they do things down here - kick over the big diesels producing 415v AC convert it to DC and charge Elon's Lithium Ions then convert it back to High Voltage and send it through the interstate connector to the Snowy and pump water uphill and then send it downhill through the turbines to produce clean green power and send it back through the interstate. Now this is all very well if you have good contacts in Kuwait and an unlimited budget to buy diesel, neither of which I have with only 100 litres of distillate to last me for the year, so there had to be a better way. When faced with such a dilemma I turned to that method of last resort - Consult The Manual. Troubleshooting.
Two red flashes every five seconds - loose connection.
Connection tightened.
Problem solved.
Planet Saved.
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