May 25 23 39S 158 35 W
At 0800 this morning, Iron Lady is 1584 nautical out of Whangarei and roughly 600 from Papeete. Assuming current rate of progress, see should make Papaeete Monday afternoon. Current conditions are as follows. Barometer 1020 steady, winds from the NNW to WNW at 10 knots, seas are from NW at 1 meter. A cold front is projected to come thru tonight with a shift to southerly winds at 20 to 25 knots. We can see the advancing clouds on the horizon behind us.
Over the last 24 hours, Iron Lady logged 230 miles over ground for an average of 9.6 knots. Engine turns are 1650 RPM, load varies between 48 and 55% depending on sea state and how much power we are drawing against her 7.2 KW alternators. Fuel burn show between 5.1 and 5.7 GPH for similar reasons. At the conclusion of the voyage, I will try to recap average stats from bell buoy to bell buoy.
We have been burring fuel from our mid tank and now have switched to our forward tank to keep the boat in balance. We burned form the mid tank as we prefer the bow heavy.
Engine vitals have been constant – coolant temp 184 to 188 degrees depending on load, oil pressure is 48 psi, exhaust gas tempos just over 700 degrees F, exhaust injection elbow temp is right at 100 degrees. Hydraulic oil temp is 125 degrees (for stabilizers). Alternators are between 115 and 135 degrees F and the remote fan cooled rectifiers run close to the same – both are load dependent. The autopilot pump runs between 120 and 135 degrees depending on sea state and how hard it is working. THe engine room is a toasty 115 degrees. We monitor all this stuff carefully as changes are a precursor to issues. We have been watching coolant temps carefully since the change to our new 4 blade prop as the loads are higher and the temps are running about 6 degrees higher then they used to but the offset is consistent under varying load conditions
Another gorgeous night and beautiful day. Boated another Mahi but while in its death throws, it bounced off the back deck and was gone. Oh well – there are other fish in the sea.
In the next post I will try and review our individual daily patterns on and off watch. After three days at sea we have all found a pattern that works for us individually and as a group.
Cheers