There has been a brief hiatus since my last posting to the blog and a good reason for it. With Cape Flattery in sight at 50 miles with landfall expected late this evening, everyone on board is breathing a sigh of relief -- and so the story unfolds!

Three days ago when we were still 350 nautical miles offshore, we began experiencing critical problems with power. You will recall earlier postings about my references to the necessity of conservative power usage because of challenges on the battery banks. It had become obvious over the course of the previous 7-10 days that the situation was deteriorating and we were finding it necessary to run the engine more frequently in order to keep up the condition of our battery bank to operate what we had already decided are critical uses including refrigerator and navigational equipment.

This accelerated recharging schedule was creating additional stress on our fuel reserves, and not without some trepidation. We were noting from other sailing vessels ahead of us on the route reporting their check in with the nightly SSB reports, that it was quite common to be becalmed prior to entering the Strait with many of the vessels having to steam in under engine power.

Quite suddenly at 11 PM, just as we were changing watches and recharging our batteries by running the engine, our ability to produce any power to recharge our battery banks unexplainably failed. We were uncertain as to whether not the failure rested with a short-circuit which was depleting our power bank supply or whether or not the problem related to failure of the alternator. (electrical generator attached to the diesel engine to produce power supply to the battery banks).

We were now faced with a situation of approximately 10 hours of useful power and questionable capability of restarting our diesel engine as it appeared that the leakage problem also affected the cranking battery for the diesel engine.

In order to preserve all power, decisions are made to shut down all power sources not critical to navigation including the refrigerator, all indoor lights, water pressure to run galley and cabin needs, gas to the stove because of the need to support solenoid controls, water maker etc.. Running lights and radar would only be turned on if we were to make visual contact with another ship at sea. Under those circumstances, we expected to have ability to run our auto helm as well as use of the navigational equipment at the helm for approximately 8 hours.

When those power uses depleted the bank, we would be forced to hand steer the boat home with only handheld GPS devices for navigational aids along with our paper charts. Without engine power, we would not be able to sail a dock and would require finding a sheltered bay to drop our anchor and use our satellite phone to arrange for a tow to services.

It would also mean that we would have to change our watches to one hour at the helm as it is particularly difficult to hold the course by compass at any time, particularly in the darkness of night -- a grueling and exhausting ordeal. There are no landmarks to steer to and with 100% cloud cover and no stars and moon to take bearings from, you can only guide yourself by following the compass course lit by your headlamp directed on the binnacle.

We also made the decision to change out the alternator to a spare alternator that had been pulled from the boat and stowed away before the present alternator had been installed. It did not have the same wiring diagram and would require jury rigging to make it work with the regulator in place.

This job would have to be done by flashlight at midnight in rolling seas with following winds at 20 kn. and it was done.

Turning the key to start the engine confirmed our worst fears -- the engine battery was dead, fortunately the ignition is built-in with an accessory parallel relay switch that allows ability to recruit what power was left in the engine house batteries to the task of turning over the engine and the engine hesitatingly came to life. Watching anxiously to see whether or not the line voltage would come up on our panel analog readout, we gradually noted a slow but steady rise indicating that the new alternator was functioning at producing power to regenerate our battery banks.

Breathing a sigh of relief that our options had been restored, it was only a matter of letting the engine run for several hours to see what level we could restore the battery banks to. By morning it looked like we had the problem in hand, but we were still unable to explain why we were incapable of recharging the engine battery, but were somewhat reassured that the option of turning the engine over using that accessory relay switch from the house bank would continue to function.

Just when we thought we had a handle on the problem -- the next disaster struck the following night. Why does everything happen in the dead of night?

We were in the process of scheduled recharging our batteries at 11 PM at change of watch by running the engine, when all of a sudden there was this terrific banging racket. No one could identify where it was coming from. Initially we thought that it was the mainsail or controlling lines flogging because of a wind shift, but in the black of night you cannot see your sails to confirm your impressions. The racket eventually settled down after 30 seconds and we thought the problem had resolved itself.

2 min. later engine alarms blared out indicating an overheating engine. The engine was shut off immediately and on examining the engine hold it was obvious that the fan belt that have been running the new alternator had disintegrated. It was this disintegration that had been responsible for the racket previously heard. Fortunately we had 2 spare alternator belts and again in the middle of the night installed the new fan belt without any engine damage obvious on restarting the engine.

The last 16 hours have been trouble-free and it is a beautiful sunny day as we look on the Olympic Peninsula. I don't think any of us have been more pleased to see landfall.

Be careful what you wish for! -- I recall mentioning in a blog at the beginning of the voyage that one of the main purposes that I hoped to achieve on this voyage was a significant familiarity with the different systems on Telltales, and confidence in correcting or repairing any deficiencies. At this point of time I think I know far more than I want you -- some problems are much easier to accept as academic exercises then real life challenges!