The Best Laid Plans…
Day 27 : Ascension to Azores
Wednesday, April 13th 2022
We woke up on Day 27 determined to come up with a plan to give a little more longevity to our Franken-nut fix on the steering. It’s structural integrity seemed to be holding, but the fact that it was connecting an articulated joint meant that there was movement, continuously, and this movement was enough to slowly undo the retaining nut, no matter how much we tightened it.
As the retaining nut became looser, the entire contraption we’d fashioned out of 9 separate pieces of stainless steel (Bolt, Washer, Nut, Nylok Nut, Head of a 17mm spanner, drilled out 3/8” socket, drilled and tapped 5/8” socket, washer) would start to move, creating wear both on the contraption itself, but also on the hole in the tiller arm through which it passed.
We could commit to tightening it every few hours, but a better solution could surely be found.
In the meantime, I’d had a good night’s sleep as Jen had put the bed together one last time for me, so I woke up full of beans and ready to tackle the problem. When I relieved her at 5am, she hopped into bed, hoping to also avail herself of the comfy spot, only to discover yet another new noise coming from the steering assembly, and so once again, the bed was broken down, the nuts were tightened, and Jen went back to sleeping in the main saloon.
Before she did though, I got her help to apply some Loctite to the bolt in an attempt to slow down the loosening process. I suspected it wasn’t enough, but it was something to try.
Once Jen was asleep, I reached out to my brains trust, currently spread all over the world. Mark, from S/V Erie Spirit, was just waking up in Houston, Texas (he and Susan have flown home to spend some time with their children and grandchildren). Andrew on S/V Sonrisa was still in V&A Marina in Cape Town, where we’d left him drinking wine and eating sushi. (he promises he’s getting moving soon, but that man has lead in his boots and is usually the last boat in the anchorage). And Matt on S/V Perry is on passage in the middle of the South Atlantic, en route from the Brazilian holiday islands of Fernando de Noronha to Ile Diablo in French Guyana, the setting of the book and movie Papillon.
I laid out the problem, and a series of questions, and before long, all 3 men were engaged in a serious and detailed discussion about the state of Pete’s nuts, and what could be done to stop them from being so loose.
With so much expert advice on tap, it wasn’t long before a plan was drawn up, as follows:
Apply a liberal amount of grease between the Hex Head washer and tiller arm, and also inside the bushes etc that we made in the ball joint (to promote reduced friction in the bits that are meant to have some movement, thereby hopefully reducing rotational force on my nuts).
Remove the spring washer from the nut side of the tiller arm
Apply more Loctite under the primary nut
Continue to use a Nylock nut as a jamming nut
But get yet another one from my old seacock (the third one, now) so that it has its best chance of gripping, as it will only be it’s second use.
Apply Loctite under the Nylock Nut
Jam the primary nut and the Nylock nut together by compressing against each other, after I’ve torqued up the primary nut as much as I can.
Do NOT put the bed back together.
We decided to wait until after lunch to apply the fix. To do so required us to disconnect the steering mechanism, which of course meant taking down all the sails. And we had some momentum going. Besides, we just couldn’t face going through the whole process again for the third time in 12 hours, so I decided to enjoy an episode of Game of Thrones and some lunch before tackling it.
Revitalised, we gathered up everything necessary to try and make the fix more robust. We took down the sails. We unbolted the other end of the tie-rod. And then I started to unbolt the Franken-nut.
And we couldn’t!
The Loctite we’d applied at breakfast time was doing it’s job so well, we literally couldn’t loosen the joint at all. We got the hammer out to give it a few taps, before stopping ourselves and saying… “Hang on a minute. What are we doing? If this thing won’t come apart without serous persuasion, isn’t that exactly what we were trying to achieve in the first place?”
And so our carefully laid plan was thrown out the window. Or at least, put on the shelf for now. Of course, we’ll now be tempted to put the bed back together. But we won’t. I promise. We’ll monitor the steering on an ongoing basis until we reach our destination, and if it shows any sign of loosening, will implement our multi-hemispherical “Pete’s Nuts Plan” in its entirety.
In the meantime, talking of reaching our destination, that’s another plan that we threw out the window yesterday.
The Azores consist of 9 islands, spread over a 300 or 400 mile area. Each island is unique, and seemingly all are worth a visit, although we know we won’t have time for that. The most common island for sailors to stop at is Faial, and specifically the harbour at Horta. It’s one of the best protected of all the islands (They‘re all windswept and swell affected) and over the years, a mini economy has sprung up to service the yachts stopping there en route from the Caribbean or US to Europe.
It’s long been one of my dreams to visit Horta, and specifically Peter Sport Café – not for the name, so much as the fact it’s one of the most famous Cruiser Destination Bars in the world.
Because of the prevailing wind direction, Horta is normally the first place one stops at, then you can sail downwind from there to the other islands you wish to see. However, our plan for the last few months has been to go to the capital of Sao Miguel, some 200 miles to the east.
Why? Well this is one of only two places in the Azores where you can import a pet, and in order for us to get Coco into the UK, she needs to be flown in. Which means we need to import her into the EU somewhere first, and then we can send her ahead.
So locked in has this plan been, that we had vital paperwork for her importation sent from South Africa to Ponta Delgada marina at Sao Miguel. And when one of our chart plotters failed in Ascension Island, and we persuaded B&G to replace it free of charge, we had them send it ahead to Sao Miguel.
By going to Sao Miguel first, we recognised there might be a chance we’d never get to Horta at all. Partially because it would then be upwind from Sao Miguel in the prevailing winds, and partially because we have so many jobs to do on the boat after 6,500 miles from Cape Town that we might just run out of time.
The latest weather forecast, however, has thrown a spanner in the works. There’s a new low pressure system on its way, that is going to end up giving us headwinds for the last 150 miles in to Sao Miguel. Depending on which forecast you believe, those headwinds will either be of moderate strength, or quite a bit stronger than that. And either way, that does not feel like a fun end to the passage.
As good luck would have it, if we can keep up our current speeds, we would be passing Horta just before the new, contrary, wind arrives. This would have the added benefit of bringing our ETA forward to Saturday afternoon (rather than Sunday, Monday, or quite possibly Tuesday with the new headwinds), plus we’d reduce our risk with the steering, and be able to get it fixed there before moving on.
And maybe even get some time to do some sightseeing on Horta and nearby Pico with its spectacular mountain, before setting off in a week or two to Ponta Delgada to sort out the Coco situation.
The more we discussed it yesterday, the better an idea it seemed. And so the decision was made, our course and mindset were altered, and the old plan was thrown out the window.
Horta here we come.
Day 27 Statistics:
Time on passage so far: 26 days, 21 hours
Distance covered in last 24 hours: 159 nm
Average Speed in last 24 hours: 6.6 knots
Official Length of intended Route when we set out: 3,480 nm
Current Projected Distance to Go according to chart plotter: 409 nm (to Horta, baby)
Distance Sailed so Far: 3,224 nm
Total Projected Distance of Route: (3,224 + 409): 3,633
Change in total projected distance in last 24 hours: -146 miles (Horta is some 150 miles before Sao Miguel, our original port of entry into the Azores
Estimated Day of Arrival: PredictWind is now saying 1.30pm on Saturday 16th April
Number of times puerile jokes were made about Pete’s Nuts in the flurry of emails between the Brains trust: A very restrained, and somewhat disappointing, 2
