Towards evening things started to calm down, and we were sailing nicely until about 10pm, when the wind disappeared. We drifted around in circles for a while and then put an engine on. We had plenty of battery charging to do anyway, along with making water.
We motored overnight, keeping a watchful eye on the wind so we could sail when we could - but the opportunity never arose. It was totally flat calm. We did however run into an issue with the watermaker - it was producing water, then the 'bad output' alarm lit and that was it.
Given that the high pressure pump was running, and the pressure was in the green - it could have been a couple of things. It could be the sensor, or it could be the membranes. Having had 2 membranes replaced under warranty when they failed back in March - I had a suspicion that it could be that again. So we tested the output of each membrane individually and sure enough, the middle membrane was producing bad water. This was the one that wasn't replaced under warranty as at the time, its output was ok. We've sent an e-mail to the supplier and we'll see what happens (as its still under warranty). For now, we're able to make water, just at a slower rate - and our tank was nearly full anyway.
After that distraction, we decided to get the multi-rotors out and have a play. Its been far too long since I flew my quad, so we charged up some batteries and went for it. There is enough of a swell out here that the gyros struggle to initialise, so the take-offs can be 'interesting' without it knowing 'level'. Once flying though, its pretty good. We got some nice shots of the boat, albeit just motoring. First landing was a bit 'dodgy' - essentially just missing a guardwire and binning it onto the trampoline - rusty piloting skills. The subsequent one was much better, very smooth 'carrier' style landing (hover along side matching speed, then slide over the deck and land). The fleet's helicopter pilot and weatherman would be impressed ;) As he's a recent multi-rotor convert, we plan to do some flying in Antigua too - though Raven is so far ahead of us, he may have moved on before we arrive!
We also took advantage of the calm weather to stop the boat for a while and have a swim. So everyone onboard has now swum in the middle of the atlantic - 1000nm from land, and 5000m deep. Unfortunately, our drift direction was NE - taking us away from our destination! So once we'd swum and eaten, it was back on with the engine and west again. We've enough fuel for a bit more motoring but then we'll need to stop to ensure we have some to arrive and also for some battery recharging. The solar panels are working well, but not quite enough to keep up with the autopilot when hammering downwind.
Talking of the fleet - we're still in 4th but dropping back a bit. Looks like after today, we may get the wind back and be in for a classic downwind romp to the finish. The parasailor is prepped and we're raring to get some wind behind us. Look out French Kiss! The race between Raven and Doppelbock was very close until yesterday but Doppelbock looked to have eased ahead slightly. Going to be a close run thing between those two.
In a few short miles, we cross the 1000nm to go line. The last few days have been hardwork due to too much wind, and not enough. I hope the next few days are easier, sat behind the parasailor - though we need to come up with a squall strategy for that setup as we will fly it overnight. Fortunately, the FMCW radar gives us enough warning of impending squalls that we could get it down. We hope we can find a locker to dump it into - worst case we may have to lash it to a trampoline. All good fun in strong winds!