Journal Entry November 3, 2005 – Starship Encounter

Author: Scott

Today was a full day for just another day at sea in the distant South Seas. During the night we had a bit of a scare because our radar was showing shut down do to very little power. When we checked we realized all of our house batteries were dangerously low, but even more alarming was that our engine starter battery was also very low. Our engine battery used for starting is isolated from all of the house batteries to prevent us from carelessly over using the starter battery and creating a situation where we can not start our engine. The only cause for the low battery level we could determine was that someone inadvertently left the starter battery on and it equalized its voltage with the house batteries. When we attempted starting the engine in the morning we could hear that the battery was just shy of starting the engine, but it did have a solid whining noise. I knew this was not a great situation but I believed we had a good chance to charge the starter battery with the solar panels and all should be okay later in the day. This made for a tense and quiet morning, on top of fighting unfavorable winds, we now had to wait patiently on Tournesol with all electrical devices turned off, hoping we could collect enough power to turn over the engine. Without the engine we obviously would lose auxiliary maneuverability, but we would also loose the ability to generate power at will, and we would have to rely solely on the solar panels. This happened to us on the crossing from Mexico due to engine failure, and we are not eager for a repeat performance. Wouldn’t you know the weather gods would use this opportunity to throw a mixture of heavy clouds and blue skies at us, just for a little added torture. One minute we would show absolutely no solar activity and then the sun would come out and we would rocket up to ten amps. Around 1100 we had generated enough power to give me a reading of 12.3 volts on the starter battery but I still was not sure if it would have the amps necessary to turn over the engine. We both crossed our fingers and I turned the key and pushed the ignition button, there was a struggling whine but after about five seconds the engine managed to turn over. The next forty-five minutes were spent closely monitoring the energy inflow, and eventually we brought our starter battery back to life. To add a little further excitement I noticed our engine was running a little hot and so after we had collected enough power I shut it down to try to work my magic on the engines known issues causing overheating, but this crisis was officially over.

With enough power to use the radio we called over to Startship and learned they had caught up even more and we were now only separated by a few miles. We agreed we should sail within a safe distance of each other and say hello. Rachel said she might be able to spare some eggplant curry if we could figure out a way to get it over to Tournesol. It turns out Starship was motoring and soon they called us on the radio and said they could see us. It took another fifteen minutes before we could see them with a monocular, but there they were, their familiar blue hull racing towards us in the middle of the ocean with no land for hundreds of miles. We hove to so we would be semi-stationary and each boat broke out their cameras for photos of the other boat. The two boats came within audible range at 29° 36.4 south by 173° 53.7 east. Frank did an excellent job of piloting Starship within shouting distance and we screamed hellos and good wishes between boats. Rachel had a plastic bag ready to toss over to us and Pam and I both wanted to take cover, neither wanting to try to catch flying curry. The chances that we would actually catch and not wear the curry were quite slim. Rachel asked if we needed anything else and I not so shyly asked if they possibly had ice or a cold beer – BIG HINT. Before we knew it the swag bag had three ice cold beers in it, and we now had more than squishy curry to contend with, now we had the equivalent of a shotput to deal with. The thought of food and cold beer started to cloud my brain and I was dimly aware of Frank talking about finding a rope and bucket as my hands quickly removed the contents from my pocket. Like walking in a dream I strode over to the gate while removing my shirt and inwardly assessing the situation. I had calm seas, with our boat not moving and another vessel to bring me back if I should drift with the current, and that was my final thought before I took a plunge like a rat abandoning ship. I think I shocked Rachel and Frank a little because they seemed a little shocked even after the few minutes it took to stroke over to Starship, Pam is used to this behavior from me. They dropped the boarding ladder and I hung on while I gave Rachel a big wet hug and she handed over the booty. Frank inched Starship a little closer to Tournesol and I returned home with dinner and cocktails in hand. We all had a good laugh and Pam and I ceremoniously opened our beers and toasted Starship. Soon we were all yelled out and we watched as Starship finally turned her stern to us and headed off in the sunset. What an incredible experience, to find friends in such a remote part of the earth with absolutely nothing around, and then to get Fiji Gold beer and homemade eggplant curry. What a day!

After the meeting Pam and I put Tournesol back on course and slowly inched towards New Zealand. The wind dropped to less than ten knots and it soon became evident that we would have to shake the last reef out of the main and change to the larger vane on our self steering vane so we could continue to make some progress. Even with a full main we were creeping along at less than three knots with only about one knot of VMG (velocity made good).
The rest of the day was spent reading about Erik’s trip up Mt. Everest, playing cards (Pam pulled off another win somehow and the match is – Scott five, Pam three), and generally lounging around. We did eat the curry for dinner on top of rice. Godzilla look out because there is a bigger, badder, fire breathing monster in town. Just have a few bites of Rachel’s curry, blow on the great lakes, and you will have one big empty hole in the ground. Don’t get me wrong, the curry was excellent, but be sure to stay clear of combustibles for at least a day after eating. Sleep was fitful with each of us wondering if the wind would continue to plague our home stretch.