I was awake for just a few moments and had barely checked the instruments, our position and the surroundings when all of a sudden an unknown noise appeared. It sounded a bit like a flat tire, a rhythmically flapping noise, which confused me even more. Last time I’ve seen ZEROs hull there weren’t any wheels attached. I climbed up the 5 wooden steps which lead on deck, opened the little folding door and pushed the hatch aside. The noise was instantly getting louder and I could locate it as the origin was coming from right above me. I looked up and saw the wind generator tumbling like a drunken sailor after figuring out that the rum is empty again.

For any reason, one of the 3 black blades broke and caused by the disbalance producing that flat tire noise. That’s why I couldn’t picture the noise.. The Wind generator is usually so quiet that it is completely out of my mind.
I quickly switched it of. Its a brand new wind generator and it was producing a constant flow of energy since I mounted it 2 Month ago. I found the tip of the broken blade on deck but there was no sign whatever why it broke.
That means the batteries are going to be charged only by the solar panels now. Good that the days are getting longer every day.

Every 5th waves must be a bigger one. We’re on a beam reach and ZERO is sailing very smooth, except these 5th waves.. When they pass underneath us the stern got lifted up and we heel over to starboard way deeper than the other waves. Its like getting a push sideways on the Stern. The autopilot trys hard to hold course and I can hear the hydraulic pump running fast. Its a regular repeating moment and I can predict pretty good when nr 5 is knocking on our stern.. I had the whole day to get used to it.
Being on deck is getting more and more uncomfortable and I reduced my appearance to the minimum. To make it more comfy below deck I fired up the diesel heater today.. Its not for the temperatures, we usually have around 15°C during the day in the pilothouse. With a sweater its OK.. Ohh and I wear a beanie that makes it very cosy.

No it’s more because of the moisture which lays on every surface and makes life in this limited space harder.
The temperatures rose from 15 to 17°C within one hour and after 4 hours of constant heating we had 19°C and most of the moisture was gone. Not near the floor in the lower salon but everything from hips upwards was dry. To get the heat all the way down to the bottom I thing it will take a few more hours..

When I arrive I’ll dry the boat completely. Its just a couple more days and I think we can make landfall on Wednesday.. If the wind stays like predicted..

Aloha