After five days at sea it was time to take a shower. I allowed myself two liters of tap water for that and waived the idea on a salt water pre-wash followed by a sweet-water rinse afterwards. On previous shorter passages I enjoyed the daily showers in the early evening hours but this one is different with respect to water and electricity, both being interlinked with each other.
 
We need power to produce electricity and water, which is normally generated by the Fischer-Panda Generator. As mentioned earlier, this animal started to refuse producing AC at 230V higher than 2.5kW. Below that, it works fine. The nominal rating of the generator is 6.5kW. The watermaker is asking for 3.6kW at full production, which is 130l per hour. In other words, we are not able to produce water at nominal flow at the moment. 50l per hour seems to be possible but at lower water quality. After some checks suggested over the phone by YEH in Glückstadt (excellent service support) we concluded to replace the capacitors as next step, which Susan brought into Mindelo in her luggage. BUT, when the local technician came to have a look into the engine room, it appeared to me, that he had difficutlies to determine between the ships engine and the generator. I could have guided him through the process of finding the capacitors but finally decided to live with 2.5kW for the moment not being able to produce water on this passage. Long story ending in a two liter shower after five days at sea and a Fischer-Panda authorized service workshop waiting for us at the othe side of the pond to fix this issue properly.
 
We have more than sufficient water and electricity but it is a good reminder, that these resources are limited and consumped with prudence, not only on a sailing boat at sea.
 
From last evening wind and sea state picked up a little bit and we are back to 6+kn on the log at 14-17kn true wind speed, precisely as forecasted. The lady is back at her comfort speed with a happy crew being more and more able to enjoy each mile of this passage.
 
Fair winds…