With a little over 500 nautical miles covered since leaving Lima on Sunday 20 May, the Race for Water catamaran is continuing her journey towards Valparaiso, where she is likely to make landfall midway through next week. Though the atmosphere is excellent, the crew remains studious and must manage the on-board energy as best it can…
Message from Jean-Marc Normant, captain of the ship during this trip:
Making headway and energy:
“We’re trying to maintain an average speed of 3 knots. Accompanied by cloud since we left, it’s not been easy to strike a balance between the solar energy produced by our panels and the consumption of our engines. We are regularly lacking and, as a result, we’re eating into our energy reserves, which are stored in the form of hydrogen gas. This gas is produced during periods at anchor and is then used by our fuel cells to generate electricity. With no sunshine along our route, our store of energy is dwindling! Aboard the boat, we’re keeping our consumption as low as possible save for propulsion purposes. We’re calling upon the God of the Incas to be so good as to come and visit us!”
Life on-board:
“The atmosphere between the members of the crew is great, with a series of rich discussions during both mealtimes and our watches on the bridge. These are treasured moments. However, that doesn’t stop me from interrupting them with impromptu safety exercises. Yesterday for example, I deliberately set off a smoke detector in the workshop. This enabled us to test our equipment worked smoothly and ensure the team reacted correctly. Each time, it’s very interesting and educational! Furthermore, given that Race for Water is a prototype, she’s constantly evolving and the work is never-ending, hence our very full jobs list. In short, there’s no time to get bored!”