Today, no wind during the day. As expected! Challenge of the day for Louis: to repair the alternator which he believes to be faulty. He thinks it was this one that was smoking at the start of the trip and not the engine.
The wind will come tonight and therefore Louis will have time to organize the sailboat and do what needs to be done. He won't put the storm jib for the next winds, instead he will put a reef in the mainsail in anticipation of the winds tonight and tomorrow (about 20 knots).
8:30 a.m. (10 a.m. for him):
The alternator works.
10 a.m. (12:30 p.m. for him):
He repaired the baby stay which had ripped off by breaking a bolt.
He reorganized the staysail stay and the mainsail halyard,
He filled the diesel tank and made his calculations: there are 90 liters left until the Azores.
He has done the dishes and has to think about lunch.
Who knows how many real meals he's had since the start? Might as well take advantage.
You can see it's been a busy morning for our captain.
He couldn't have done all that with wind, so it's good to stay stationary. Plus, it gives his body a break, because believe it or not, but this time he's the one with the bruises. I don't have anything at all. Well ok, I'm not on the sailboat yet (usually it's me who has my legs covered in bruises on the boat). It makes a change!
For those who say to themselves that I did not speak much about the number of remaining liters of diesel and well it was to prepare you a complete paragraph. Louis left Newfoundland with about 250 liters of diesel. You will tell me that it is a lot and that there should be more left, but remember that he did a lot of motoring to get out of a storm and also to avoid being stationary a previous night. So, after calculation, he has 90 liters left. It should be enough as it will be windy from tonight until the Azores. For those who know Louis a bit less, know that he will not run out by mistake or by forgetting. He kept a tank of 20-25 liters aside (out of the 90 litres) precisely so as not to get caught with a diesel failure so close to the goal.
Louis: It's so beautiful, especially since it's warmer. I am beginning to understand the meaning of my journey and I can't wait to see how I will be transformed when I get out of it.
I hope he won't be too transformed either. We like him as he is our captain, there can always be room for improvement (I'm kidding here, don't tell him that :) )
While waiting to have pictures of this day without wind: here are some hypotheses on what Louis could eat for dinner (well, he also has frozen meat, but I don't have the pictures).
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