The heater, which has been giving us so many problems over the last week, is, for now at least, working again. It was totally removed from its position in the foulie locker and laid out on the saloon table. It was then gazed at from all angles and cleaned with kitchen towels.
After seeing no reason for it's failure Rob turned to the fuel filter back in the locker. A thorough clean and new filter later the whole thing was re-assembled and fired up. Heat glorious heat. The three cheers, well deserved, were delivered at today's crew meeting on deck. More stuff to
cheer us was to our starboard side. The latest positions had arrived and Stephen, our navigator, had called up that we should be able to see BG SPIRIT on our right. As if by magic they were (we'd not noticed them before) and we proceeded to see them move further behind us as the afternoon went on. When there is so little to bring cheer in this bleak place the return of a basic requirement, heat, and the confirmation that we are remaining competitive really does bring a welcome boost. Though we think it may have been something they were doing wrong rather than something we were doing exceptionally right. It is still bitterly cold on deck and we are living under a water and gas preservation order. Shortage of water means no showers and no shaving. All the guys onboard are sporting beards which make the drysuit seals on our Musto smock tops much more itchy. Until we are confident that the water maker will function properly this looks set to continue. When asked for his thoughts on the conditions David succinctly replied, "arse"- we concur. As we battle through our thoughts do go out the crew of Team Stelmar who have stopped racing due to one of their foredeck team breaking his arm. They have had turn back to South America and look like they will be adding two weeks to their Southern Ocean journey. It has brought home how quickly circumstances can change for any of the crews. As a member of the foredeck team on BP Explorer it is a timely reminder that you can never let your guard down for a moment. We are looking out for each other and calling every large wave which will hopefully give us time to prepare for it.
John Bass
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment