Autopilot problems threaten Dee's dream

by Dee Caffari and Shore Team on 14 May 2006 On Saturday afternoon, and in 30 knots of wind Aviva sailed a savage circle, the sails being backed against the rigging, and the boat heeling violently. The autopilot ram was stuck in a right hand turn. Despite turning off the autopilot Dee could not get control of the steering system until she had removed the hydraulic ram, manually.

As Dee entered the Northern Hemisphere one of the autopilots had an electrical problem, and Dee had to replace a solenoid. The solenoid controls the flow of fluid back and forth, and thereby allows the yacht to turn to Port or Starboard; get it stuck in one position and the yacht will only turn one way. This changing of a unit allowed air to get into the system, air in a hydraulic system means that although the unit tries to move the rudder the rudder never feels the effect. So as hard as the system tries it cannot steer the course it desires. This results in an alarm and the system needing to be reset.

During the day on Saturday Aviva decided to keep Dee on her toes all the way to the finish. It would appear that the solenoid on the back up autopilot has now failed as well. Unfortunately Dee and Aviva are currently battling through 30 knots of wind; due to the conditions she is currently unable to get at the unit to fix it.

So Dee will be steering through the night until conditions improve. She can take an occasional break and use the pilot with air in the system, this only works for a maximum of 15 minutes before it needs to be reset. Dee has been able to communicate with the shore team by setting the pilot, rushing below and sending 2 or 3 line emails, before having to return to the deck and steer.

The short breaks will be vital, as steering in bad conditions is physically and mentally challenging. Dee's last missive to the shore team read 'Not only is it lonely, dark and windy but it is rough and chuffing raining! Still I am singing louder than the rain with Robbie Williams.'

She is keeping herself going, and there is one very important factor that is helping her to do that...she is so close to finishing after 6 months that she will never be stopped now. The weather should abate slightly on Sunday, and that will allow Dee to work through the system and get herself a working autopilot.

DAILY REPORT FROM DEE CAFFARI:

RECEIVED 19H26 ON 13TH MAY 2006

'I apologise if this log seems brief, but with less than 800 miles to go and Aviva doing between 9 and 10 knots in 30 knots of wind and building I am suffering with yet more autopilot problems.

'There is an alarm going off every twenty minutes for a fault. I have changed to the other pilot and have still had no joy. The result is I am having to steer through this depression tonight and then hopefully when the lighter winds come I may be able to try and find a way to fix the problem, otherwise I shall be left steering for the remaining miles.

'With this new problem, the finish line can't come quick enough.'

Dee & Aviva

DAILY REPORT FROM DEE CAFFARI

RECEIVED AT 23H06 12TH MAY 2006

It was a beautiful day sailing today. We gybed around 0630 this morning as dawn was breaking and sailed away from the dark clouds in to a clear blue sky. The wind increased and remained stable all day, the sun shone and we started sailing towards the South of the Bay of Biscay.

The sea state increased during the day and we had the swell pushing us home. The weekend will not be all good news as the weather forecast from Mike today revealed an old friend of ours, the secondary low pressure. Fortunately he is only a cousin of our friends we met in the Southern Ocean and will not have winds as strong or for as long, but basically tomorrow night and Sunday morning will be rather lively. The good news is that this time I will not be heading straight into it so I will still be able to point towards home.

In fact when you discount the fickle winds of the doldrums I have not had to tack at all during this Atlantic leg. The last tack Aviva and I completed was before the Cape of Good Hope. Since then we have been busy gybing our way home.

The other big news today was breaking that 1000-mile barrier. To only have hundreds of miles rather than thousands of miles to go feels really weird and that means that all being well we are approaching a lot of lasts. For example, the last weekend at sea alone. Everything is beginning to move a little quicker now and where as last week I feared for these final weeks lasting an eternity, suddenly everything has speeded up. However if the days continue in a similar manner to today it will be a pleasure sailing these last few miles.

Dee & Aviva

INSTRUMENT READINGS

STATUS (LAST REPORT 14/05/2006 00h54)

STATUS UNDER WAY
LATITUDE N 41° 14'
LONGTITUDE W 16° 54'
DTF 674
CMG 77.3
SMG 9.9
24HR RUN 223
24HR SPEED 9.3

DTF - Distance To Finish: Distance from last reported position to the finishing line
CMG - Course Made Good: Course in degrees between the last two reported positions
SMG - Speed Made Good: Speed between the last two reported positions

(Status Information is updated on www.avivachallenge.com each day at 08h00, 14h00, 20h00 and 02h00)

TELEMETRY (LAST REPORT 12/05/2006 16h26)

SPEED OVER GROUND (knots) 8.1
COURSE (°) 053
APPARENT WIND SPEED (knots) 15.3
TRUE WIND SPEED (knots) 17.5
TRUE WIND DIRECTION (°) 176
SEA TEMPERATURE (°C) 16.8