She sets off- Abby Sunderland

[jonsailor]

Scott:

Thank you for the details.

You have earned my respect.

We all do understand that you are

"working with what you got" and making the best of it.

The belts on the engine could be reworked in a

manner similar to what they do on some trucks - the double

sheave and two v-belts, or a set of special pulleys and a wider cog belt.

The torque load with all the alternator loads must be pretty bloody high.

Adjusting the alternator field settings down to reduce the alternator torque

loads makes sense, although its a compromise. After all you are throwing

away some of the generating capability in order to save the belts.

as for the vibration? You got an alignment problem,

something out of round or a something out of balance?

thanks,

jerry

you cannot believe the loads that these big alternators cause until you see it running, especially if they are doctored to hit 14.4 Volts.

It actually stalls the engine if you run both while cold. Some of our single handed yachts, we either have a manual switch or a time delay before they kick in so the engine can get going.

Double belts we found were not a good idea as they wear and stretch different and do not share the load well enough. Maybe a square tooth belt like a Harley drive belt would be the go, I've never tried that.

Most of the vibration is due to not enough rigidity in the steel mounting structure. Being a race yacht, we tend to not go too overboard and there is always a room problem.

Biggest problem is the user of these boats. Both girls live on all the electronics and never put the phone down. None would survive or make it without a sat phone.

I did a 5,200 mile 2 handed race to Osaka on 39 ltrs of fuel. Sure we only used the pilot 21% of the time but there sure is a lot more discipline to be had.

Media chews up a lot and I suppose they all need the sponsors onboard.

 

[longy]

I'm starting to see a fair bit of retro fit pulleys available for automotive flat serpentine belts. Normal V belts can supply up to 5 HP per belt. Any idea what serpentine belts can supply? With a swap over to these flat belts, you should be able to get a better set-up: more pulley wrap, less alignment issues (only one belt), more HP transferred, auto belt tensioning.

 

[jerryj2me]

I'm starting to see a fair bit of retro fit pulleys available for automotive flat serpentine belts. Normal V belts can supply up to 5 HP per belt. Any idea what serpentine belts can supply? With a swap over to these flat belts, you should be able to get a better set-up: more pulley wrap, less alignment issues (only one belt), more HP transferred, auto belt tensioning.

http://www.gates.com/index.cfm?location_id=560

see the picture at the top of the page -

belts are available for whats is globally

described as "industrial power transfer"

in all kinds of forms and flavors.

I don't like the double v belt approach either,

for the reasons others have stated.

This is a 2 piston diesel (correct me if I am wrong)

and the torque of the engine as a function of

crank angle is going to have a lot of variance.

More pistons, flatter rotational torque. My premise is

if all else is well, that's the vibration issue,

couple with the heavy alternator load.

50 knots of wind in the forecast - Hope the weather routing keeps

her out of it and she prepares properly.

Hopefully no more sleeping with a lot of sail area up.

Maybe that lesson got learned from the last go around with this?

 

[U20guy2]

Just how reliant is she on the electrics? Could she find home if it were all go to crap? Pretty sure nearly anyone could sail around the world with an auto pilot - weather ie nav service telling them where to go via sat phone. Though anyone with even some minor ocean experience knows crap breaks - stuff just stops working and sometimes its just you - a set of sails and a tiller. Maybe if your smart a couple of small hand held back up GPS units to pull some position points along the way.

No doubt She's done alot and learned alot but in no way or form was this trip well thought out or prepared for. Would her journey have continued if more experienced sailors had not stepped in and helped solve problems? Most PAC Cup Sailors discover these sorts of issues in the months leading up to their 2000 mile off shore race when they do the Coastal Cup and other local ocean events. Apparently the rush to make it happen took priority over the poor kid actually learning and knowing this stuff her self before she went.

 

[robbins]

Just how reliant is she on the electrics? Could she find home if it were all go to crap? Pretty sure nearly anyone could sail around the world with an auto pilot - weather ie nav service telling them where to go via sat phone. Though anyone with even some minor ocean experience knows crap breaks - stuff just stops working and sometimes its just you - a set of sails and a tiller. Maybe if your smart a couple of small hand held back up GPS units to pull some position points along the way.

No doubt She's done alot and learned alot but in no way or form was this trip well thought out or prepared for. Would her journey have continued if more experienced sailors had not stepped in and helped solve problems? Most PAC Cup Sailors discover these sorts of issues in the months leading up to their 2000 mile off shore race when they do the Coastal Cup and other local ocean events. Apparently the rush to make it happen took priority over the poor kid actually learning and knowing this stuff her self before she went.

+1 - Best of luck to Abby.

 

[estarzinger]

50 knots of wind in the forecast - Hope the weather routing keeps

her out of it and she prepares properly.

The website positions seem to put her roughly at 43S. That a real trade-off between making speed in between the lows vs getting hammered by the lows.

But for today that puts her in a very windy spot. I am a bit surprised the routing did not aggressively push her north for this low, they have been so conservative in the past.

 

[tama_manu]

I am a bit surprised the routing did not aggressively push her north for this low, they have been so conservative in the past.

While we don't know actual positions, from a rough point of view it looks to me like she made it to the Kerguelens within the outer time estimated on her web site. This is a first for her trip. I don't know if it is routing or sailing, or more likely both, but she is moving along faster in any case. I enjoyed it when Born2Sail put positions in his Nav software - though for that one he had them. I would not want to add any pressure on this teen girl to push the boat though.

 

[shamrock22]

http://www.petethomasoutdoors.com/

Anybody know anything about her EPIRB going off?

 

[gorge runner]

http://www.petethomasoutdoors.com/

Anybody know anything about her EPIRB going off?

Just saw this on ABCNews

 

[U20guy2]

http://www.petethomasoutdoors.com/

Anybody know anything about her EPIRB going off?

Just saw this on ABCNews

Shit - Shit!!!!

I hope they find her Ok- for the parents sake for sure!

All the experienced sailors kept saying this thing was madness.

 

[Silverbullet]

http://www.petethomasoutdoors.com/

Anybody know anything about her EPIRB going off?

Aw shit. Not good.

 

[shamrock22]

Re read and it sounds like she has 2 going off right now plus no comms via sat phone.

 

[U20guy2]

Re read and it sounds like she has 2 going off right now plus no comms via sat phone.

Primary - and personal maybe?

Given they were on the sat phone with her prior to the EPIRB I'd guess that we are only getting a very small part of the story that lead up to this. Guessing they were on the phone with her to coach her through a major fix or how to get the boat mellowed out in the conditions she was in?

 

[razorback]

ESPN reporting on it now too.

2 EPIRBs chirping is definitely not a good sign. Maybe she's in a raft. C'mon little girl, hang on till somebody gets to you.

Edit: The ABCnews link said she had manually activated 2 EPIRBs and that an auto had not fired. What are the chances of that being an accurate report? If true, it'd seem to be a hopeful sign (e.g. she was conscious and working the problem)

 

[DryArmour]

ESPN reporting on it now too.

2 EPIRBs chirping is definitely not a good sign. Maybe she's in a raft. C'mon little girl, hang on till somebody gets to you.

Is topping the news here in LA on the Radio.

Can someone give me the latest for her LAT LON and I will go have a look at the Wx.

 

[gorge runner]

Re read and it sounds like she has 2 going off right now plus no comms via sat phone.

Primary - and personal maybe?

Given they were on the sat phone with her prior to the EPIRB I'd guess that we are only getting a very small part of the story that lead up to this. Guessing they were on the phone with her to coach her through a major fix or how to get the boat mellowed out in the conditions she was in?

Yeah, a lot may have happened in the four and half hours since . Nearest ship is 400 miles away -- that's a long wait.

 

[Vronny]

On Abby's Facebook page, posted about 30 mins ago:

Abby Sunderland A rescue effort has been launched in hope of finding Abby who set off her emergency beacon locating devices from the southern Indian Ocean early this morning. Awaiting news...please keep Abby in your thoughts and prayers.

 

[razorback]

Here's all I found Mark. It's not precise Lat/Lon, but it gives you the general area.

Abby's route

 

[isma]

ESPN reporting on it now too.

2 EPIRBs chirping is definitely not a good sign. Maybe she's in a raft. C'mon little girl, hang on till somebody gets to you.

Edit: The ABCnews link said she had manually activated 2 EPIRBs and that an auto had not fired. What are the chances of that being an accurate report? If true, it'd seem to be a hopeful sign (e.g. she was conscious and working the problem)

Let's hope she's still on Wild Eyes, the raft is a distant 2nd in terms of attractive options.

They should know what Type each EPIRB is by ID number so I'm guessing the report is accurate. It is a good sign and I'm hoping that Wild Eyes is still intact but possibly damaged prompting the decision to activate the EPIRBs.

Hopefully, she'll regain comms capability. As someone said, it will be a long and very scary wait.

 

[MDRman123]

Quick question for SMSScott:

How does it feel to participate in placing an innocent young girl at risk?

Although honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about her. Look at all those prayers on her Facebook page! It will definitely be ok, I hear that God is especially powerful in the Southern Ocean during winter. I bet she's praying too, so she'll be safe.