Earthrace Averages 17.5 Kts
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Skipper Pete Bethune displays net that stopped Earthrace on her way to Hawaii. |
See Earthrace video from first record attempt...
The vessel's twin CMD diesels seem to be running well
and most days Earthrace travels about 550 nm in 24 hours if she does not encounter
problems. That means she is averaging nearly 23 knots while underway at sea. Including
pit stops and two days throught the Panama Canal, Earthrace is sill averaging over
17 knots, which is good and has set her ahead of the record pace.
The trip has been so lacking in drama that Peter's "Captain's Blog" is mostly about
interactions of the crew and the stiffling heat in the un-air conditioned, almost
totally enclosed, cabin of the cabon fiber power-tri. We have picked out two passages
that you might consider interesting--
Just After Entering the Pacific--
"Considering this is our first day in the Pacific, we’ve seen an amazing array of
life. A pod of whales, several pods of dolphins, a sailfish, hundreds of flying
fish, several workups of surface fish with birds feeding on them, and lots of smaller
fish that break the surface as we rocket past….and about twenty turtles. Its my
ocean this. .I love the diversity, the many islands that litter its surface, the
deep blue water that invites you in for a swim. It’s the greatest stretch of water
on earth, and thankfully, we haven’t yet stuffed it, like we have so many other
waterways all over the world. It is so good to be back on my ocean."
Water in the Fuel!!!--
"Beep Beep Beep, and I’ve heard it enough times to know it spells bad news. I race
up to the dash, and the engine controls are showing “Water in Fuel”.
"Now common rail diesel technology is the greatest advance in combustion performance
over the last few decades, although surprisingly, most people have never heard of
it. Injection pressures have risen from about 2000psi, right up to 35,000 psi, and
the results are impressive - less emissions, more power, and better efficiency than
ever before. The injection systems however have a flaw – just a small amount of
water sneaking through can completely stuff them, which is why the current alarm
is so worrying. Even a small amount of water in the fuel could see us dead in the
water.
"Scampering into the engine room, both fuel system filters show about 50mm of water
in the bottom, and an evil looking grey sludge of water bubbles cascading down through
the s ight glass. I switch over to the second batch of racor filters, at least isolating
the current water. Adam by now has found the source. Our sink drains into a 20 litres
bucket, but it has somehow been allowed to overflow, draining down onto the fuel
tank and somehow seeping inside. About 5 litres of water is sloshing backwards and
forwards on the lid as we are rocked by the gentle 1m swell that’s been greeting
us for the last day.
"Water can be insidious, and damage to injectors, if any water did sneak through,
can take a long time to show up. “It might show up in a few days, a week or even
a month and bite us in the ass”, I’d said to Adam, as he’s wiping up the last of
the water. And it begs the question of course how the sink overflowed in the first
place.”
Day #19 -- San Diego
Arriving in San Diego on May 16th.
Day #17 -- Manzanillo, Mexico
Tied up in Manzanillio, Mexico on May 14th.
Day #11-12 -- Panama Canal
Earthrace on her way out of the Panama Canal,
the transit of which took a couple of days. May 9.
Day # 8 -- San Juan, Puerto Rico
Arriving at Puerto Rico in the morning of
May 5th after an uneventful TA.
Day #3 -- Horta, Azores
Backlit in the Azores as Earthrace arrives
in the morning of April 30th.
The Start -- Saunto, Spain
Start of the race against time, at 2 pm on
April 28, 2008. The second try.
Considering all of the problems that Earthrace encountered during its first try
for the Around the World Powerboat record, the first 24 days this trip have been
a piece of cake. Seas have been manageable and all critical equipment (except the
head) have preformed well. As we go to press Earthrace is in Hawaii, having covered
over 10,000 nm from Saunto, Spain.
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