L'Eau Commotion Westabout

Day 37 8pm Sunday 14th July 2019 ( UTC+6 )
It was with some trepidation that I fired up the Katadyn e40 desalinator as I haven't used it since its overhaul by the agents which included a new membrane, piston and seals. These membranes are very sensitive to contamination by oils so it was not possible to test it in the commercial Scarborough harbour and besides it was loaded with a preservative solution which I wished to keep in the machine. Many anxious minutes passed as the piston pump ground away but eventually the fresh water started to trickle out and once the pickling solution was purged the output was clear and sweet. I had it connected to the tanks from 9am to 5pm and the Watt & Sea had no trouble keeping the voltage around 12.8 to 13.2 with a little help from the solar panel. With the steady and not too strong breeze from around the East the Windpilot has been doing the steering but to give a clear flow to the vane the solar panel is rigged to be horizontal which cuts its production by at least half. Yesterday I noticed for the first time that the gimbal system on the Origo spirit stove had just about worn through so some artistic metal sculpting was completed using my Dremel 200 powered by the 150 watt inverter so it is now better than new. Sailing conditions are idyllic but sadly no fish of either the swimming or flying kind.