Where is Bill ?

www.cyca.com.au/news/club/2015/09/william-hatfield/
www.cyca.com.au/news/club/2016/09/william-hatfield-attempts-world-record/
www.sailblogs.com/member/leaucommotion/407102
gis.ee/leaucommotion/

Looks like a favourable forecast for him this time

Sadly Bill has pulled out with a damaged lower shroud
heading NE at the moment

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andy59 said..
Sadly Bill has pulled out with a damaged lower shroud
heading NE at the moment

Bill is still going ! The boat is nearly repaired and ready to roll.

From his blog, it looks like Bill found a safe anchorage to repair the shroud. I understand the record rules allow him to anchor providing he doesn't receive any outside support.

Its amazing how he is refusing to give up, he certainty is a tough old bugger. Go Bill !

Here is a note from Friday.

3:30pm Friday 19th January 2018 ( UTC-4 ) Despite my earlier pessimistic reports I feel the record attempt is still very much alive. Lots of ideas have been formulated but nothing decided till a good overall picture of the defects and the extent of the assets on board are realised. Because this area is renowned for sudden and totally unexpected changes in the wind I decided to lodge in the best harbour I could find and one which I still be able to enter and leave under sail alone regardless of the weather. The charts I have of the spot chosen are a little questionable but if accurate the North West end of Bahia Agurre appears to fill the bill. This port is about 25 miles West of the Straits of Lemaire on the big island of Tierra del Fuego. It's only five miles away but as I am still under Starters Orders I have no idea when I will arrive in this dying breeze. It's been a lovely sail with the breeze swinging from NNE to West and fresh to pleasant. It's hard to believe it's blowing a full gale 70 miles away which is expected for the next couple of days so I will have time to do all the jobs and still have a complete rest at anchor.

To qualify you must pass all meridians of longitude once, cross the equator and sail at least 21,600 miles. From Australia you need to elongate your course by sailing around a fixed landmark, (an Island) normally Aussies do this in the Atlantic, either the Canaries or the Azores, depending on where you start. You could use an Island in the North Pacific, although it would have to be around the latitude of Seattle and the Yanks might want to board your boat which would disqualify you. Hawaii would not give enough distance to qualify from mainland Aus not sure about Tas though.
If your not going for a WSSRC ratified record Jessica Watson's route would be fine.

Believe it or not, Bill has continued battling, but is now at a point where he is now heading for the nearest port. The experience really illustrates just how tough Cape Horn is on the equipment, especially after having to get there in the first place.

Bill certainty is an amazing guy dealing with all these issues and still having the time to get out a reasonable blog. I love how calm and composed his writing is.

12:30pm Friday 16th February 2018 ( UTC-5 ) I was heading for a good looking bay on Isla London when this morning a biggish wave cleaned off the solar panels and wind generator. I had no option but to cut them loose for they were trailing in the water and banging against the WindPilot threatening to damage it. After much soul searching and many cups of hot coffee and a big bowl of porridge I feel there are just too many systems not functioning properly to continue the voyage with a margin of safety. The winds seem to be pretty strong and from the North West for a lot of the time and I would guess the best tactic would be to charge ahead as soon as they ease a bit. The trouble is without a main it is hard to make headway in the left over confused seas and when a fair amount of sail is presented its best not to look at what the mast is doing. In addition I now have no navigation lights or the means to make them, the AIS has just decided to pack it in, three of the four main batteries will not hold or accept charge. Of mi nor concern but still problematic the electric bilge pump is cactus though the two manual ones are OK. Add to this no autopilot, no wind indicator, a VHF that's about to croak and of course the ever present worry about the wobbly mast and a possibly suspect Port side lower shroud - I think I might have seen one broken wire at the top end fitting but can't be sure. Accordingly the plan is to head for the Falklands via Cape Horn. If the systems are still functioning at the Cape I will continue on - if not I might just have enough fuel to motor to Ushuaia. So far I have done nothing to invalidate the attempt but the thought of holding possible rescuers to account for an unseaworthy vessel when the solution of refitting at Stanley is at hand leaves me with little choice. The same would apply to the conscience of any Watch Keeper should I be seen too late or too close to manoeuvre, or read of a missing yacht where they might have been at night.

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Ramona said..
Which Windpilot does Bill have Andrew?

Bills Blog, 17 Sept 2016, sent when he was just north of Flinders Island gives a outline of his modified Northshore 38. (I have made a copy of his post here) He has a Windpilot Pacific Plus self steering vane.

I have also copied a shot of his route to date showing his travels between South America and Antarctica. Its quite a amazing how far south he travelled and how much time he has spent in this zone. Its a daring move to take a small glass boat that far south. You can also see he had trouble making head way into the wind at times which partially explains why he went so far South. It must have been a real punishment.

I love how he just causally says, I just might duck around the cape once more (I think that will be something like 6 times ie either direction including previous attempts) and make my way to the Falkland Islands

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A few words about how L'Eau Commotion has been set up. This could not have been achieved without the constant help and advice of my good friend Hank Kauffmann, who as well as being the designer of the Northshore 38 also built the main hull plug and all the moulds for deck, cockpit and interior fit out. A true craftsman.
It was found that the original lead filled cast iron fin keel left the vessel a little tender so Hank designed the mould for a lead shoe which deepened the draft by 200mm and weighs 230kg. Steve Watson, President of the Northshore 38 Association gave permission to have this shoe cast by Central Foundries In Sydney who soon had this despatched to Brisbane. This perfect casting was soon married up with just a smear of epoxy filler and the 7 SS bolts, 5/8" in diameter were soon tapped into the cast iron keel to give a truly professional finish.
The original sloop rig has been modified to accommodate an inner headsail, referred to as the staysail on its own ProFurl roller reefing. Fletch of Boat Harbour Marine Scarborough made up the hardware for this as well as installing all new SS standing rigging and Dyneema running back stays to stiffen the rather tall 7/8 rig mast. The sail itself was made by Adrian and Jesse of Swift Sails, Scarborough who also made me a " Code Zero " on its own furler and stiff reefing stay, which is easily hoisted off the small bow sprit and just as easily stowed away in the fcsl.
On the stern was mounted a Windpilot Pacific Plus self steering vane, a sophisticated but at the same time rugged piece of equipment which with its own independent auxiliary rudder steers the boat well independently of the main wheel operated rudder.
I have also installed an electrically powered Katadyn E40 Desalinator which, drawing only 5 amps, should run comfortably off the solar panels or if the wind is ahead of the beam off the Silentwind. This HAS been tried and comfortably puts out 5 litres per hour of sweet tasting fresh water.
The original gas stove was replaced with a two burner Maxie metho stove which I am right now about to grill me a cryovac Porterhouse for lunch.

Thought I would copy Bill latest blog on equipment.

www.sailblogs.com/member/leaucommotion

His blog is an excellent resource and answers lots of the questions that we see on this forum. In this post he discusses his approach to his key items of kit on the boat, as well as a little history lesson.

A

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Equipment
6:00pm Good Friday, 30th March 2018 ( UTC-3 )

Everything that I consider essential to get me back to Southport with a modicum of safety has been ordered and on its way.

For electrical power a Watt & Sea Hydrogenerator should arrive shortly. I decided that solar panels were too prone to be wiped out by waves to replace them and just don't have the clear deck space to fit them flat. Again I am not installing a wind generator for the same reason as the blades are susceptible to breakage and occasionally when the wind increases rapidly sometimes the auto braking is slow to stop the very high rotational speed which is rather scary if you have to be working underneath them. I have a small 20 watt solar panel on top of the little dodger over the companionway hatch which keeps the main engine starting battery always nicely topped up and thus can use the engine driven alternator for backup power; in addition I have a stowed 80 watt solar panel I can rig in calm conditions.

I intend to install an Echomax active radar enhancer which lights up and sends back a powerful pulse whenever painted by a ships radar.

The Raymarine tiller pilot is back in action. It was a dual failure with a corroded wire to the clutch mechanism combined with corrosion in the electronic backbone cable.

I will be able to take the mast out here at the FIC Jetty to check the rigging and replace the faulty parts, install a Tricolour masthead light and by replacing the Raymarine wind cable I hope to have the windspeed and direction instrument back in operation. The replacement element for the Katadyn e40 desalinator is also on its way, but of course I still have the manual model 35. Andrez Short, a Kelper with a vast amount of sailing experience out of the Falklands to the North Atlantic as far North as Norway has been wonderful in assisting to get the equipment here as well as fixing the staysail furling mechanism which should be a real boon in heavy weather. Bob McLeod checked out the VHF which seems to be good as I will have a spare to my favourite brand acquired from Andrez, an Icom VHF.

I spent an afternoon and then a full day in the museum. The exhibits and accompanying explanations are truly of world class and are housed in buildings dating back to the time of the establishment of the colony in Stanley in the 1840's. The Conflict, the invasion by Argentina in 1982, features strongly in the narrative and brought about huge changes in the lifestyles of the population. This contrast was the more interesting as Barbara and I spent six months here in 1976 after limping in in our little yacht. It is great to yarn with Andrez about times long gone. He is a direct descendant of one of the military pensioners who volunteered to come out here in 1848 and is in the process of refurbishing one of the original cottages, which he owns, built at the same time and just few houses away from that occupied by the first Short. Back in 1976, The Colony, or in PC Speak, Overseas Territory, seemed to be struggling with quite a few failed schemes which tried to diversify the economy away from its almost complete dependence on one product - wool. The economy is now booming with the addition of a large and well managed squid and finfish industry and the likelihood of production starting up of proven oil reserves in the near future. These things were talked about 40 years ago but the threat of Argentine reprisals but a lid on any exploration