Date: Sat, 19 May 2012
Place: Enroute to Bermuda
Wind/Weather: SE 18 to 24 knots / cloudy with showers
Title: Day 4 at Sea

Well, yesterday was a very nice day. Today, not so much. The wind is back to 24 knots and the boat is charging ahead at over 7 knots.

I have calculated that we will arrive in Bermuda by midnight tomorrow, which means we will have to kill some time until Monday morning. The St. George's approach is not one to make at night. There are many treacherous reefs around.

Last night I had the 0300 to 0600 watch and it was chilly. I am wearing my foul-weather coat but I haven't broken out my pants yet. I would like to wait until after we leave Bermuda.

Skipper Martyn (aka Big Martyn) made a delicious omelette of onions, garlic, potatoes and eggs. And that was followed by Susy making bread, which was also very good, particularly since it was her first ever.

Susy discovered an entire locker that was empty and suggested that I use it for the rest of my clothes. So I was very happy to finally find a home for all my gear and have it readily available instead of living out of a bag.

Susy cooked a baked pasta tonight and I had the last bit of bread with it. I think I could live on the fresh bread.

We have several problems on the boat that make a transatlantic passage problematic. First there is the charging system. We are running the engine about 8 hours a day to keep the batteries charged. The amperage readings are very inconsistent. Bad alternator?

Second, there is a very limited supply of fresh water on board, and it is not drinkable. We are dependent on the water maker to make water which uses a lot of power.

Now, the head has stopped working properly. Suddenly, it has stopped pumping the water in but only pumps water out. You can get around this by using the shower head to provide water to the stool while flushing. This uses a lot of water. So this needs to be fixed.