Thoughts on Rain Catchment and The Brownie Batch

December 26, 2018

Day 83

Noon Position: 44 18S  10 20W

Course(t)/Speed(kts): SxE 3

Wind(t/tws): ENE 7

Sea(t/ft): Mixed to 3

Sky: Rain

10ths Cloud Cover: 10

Bar(mb): 997, rising

Cabin Temp(f): 54

Water Temp(f): 46

Relative Humidity(%): 80

Sail: Close reaching under working jib and main.

Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 131

Miles since departure: 11,256

Avg. Miles/Day: 136

I kept the twins up overnight even though the wind went into the N in the wee hours. Switching from poles to main and jib in the dark is easy to rationalize as better done in the morning when one is full of hot mutton stew, fresh brownies, and a bit of red wine.

Besides decidedly cold and rainy, the day has been one of constant attention to the sheets as we work down through the center of a weak low. The wind has veered from N to E to, now, 20 degrees W of S. I even had to tack just after lunch. I shiver to think of it–to tacking in the open ocean!

I tried to catch water during the long but light rain episode around noon and only came away two gallons richer. My rain collector is the main sail. Water runs from here into the sail’s cradle cover, and in the cover I’ve inserted a hose fitting whose hose runs to the water tank ports near the gunnel.

For some reason I couldn’t get the fitting to drain much more than a dribble. I suspect this has to do with the reef the sail had and the water getting caught in the fold of the sail. By the time I went full sail, the rain had mostly cleared out.

This needs attention. With usage at roughly a gallon a day, we are now down 80+ gallons out of total tankage of about 200 gallons. Sure, I’m not running dry any time soon, but rain is catch-as-catch-can, and I need to catch it down here in the south. Most rain comes during a hard gale (main rapped up tight), so my opportunities for using this system are fewer than you might think.

In the afternoon, we were visited by five Wandering albatross flying as a loose group (I presume). I may go days without seeing one of these birds, and then they will appear in twos and threes, circle the boat and even, rarely, land in the water nearby.

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I goofed during yesterday’s video in describing my brownie recipe as requiring butter and *milk.*  It’s butter and *eggs,* also something I stock in dehydrated form (see photos).

The batch came out nicely. The only zinger was that none of my bread pans were the right size, and I had to use a fry pan instead.