Sailed for some of Tuesday night till the wind died then motoring. We have decided not to chase a Thursday arrival but to take it easier and arrive on Friday. This is due to no wind and reduced engine revs because of the fuel starvation.
So we motored slowly through Wednesday and then all the electrics tripped out, no auto pilot, no fridge, no instruments. We then went through a period of when they came on, went off, etc while we had to steer manually.. As there was no wind we could not use the Hydrovane to steer.
I was trying to figure out what was happening and checked the batteries, which seemed fine, charging while the engine was running. I then thought it may be the switch which isolates the batteries. I disconnected the wires to it and joined them together, effectivly bypassing the switch.
None of this made any difference. However once the big users were disconnected, auto pilot and fridge, everything else stayed on. This included the instruments which gave us our course and speed and.wind speed and direction. Later the wind picked up to about 6 knots and we poled
out the headsail and were sailing, which meant we could use the hydrovane to steer, so we didnt have to.
So in these windless seas we alternate between motoring (and steering) and sailing, albeit slowly. We are aiming for a Friday arrival which meant we had to average about 3 knots, hopefully we should achieve this as long as the wind or fuel holds out.
My latest view on the electrics is a corroded ground wire but this will have to wait until we are in Horta, along with the other jobs. The way we are feeling, when we do eventually make landfall we shall be on our knees kissing the ground like Pope Paul.