Day 41 – Water Leak

10 Apr, 07 – 21.45    
17.1503N,35.0935W
24 hr progress: 16.8 Nautical Miles
Distance rowed to date: 1435 Nautical Miles
Distance left to Antigua: 1523 Nautical Miles ( 2817 km)
(Note: 1 Nautical Mile = 1.85 km)
Conditions: Wave height – 7-8ft, Winds – 15 ENE

I've just discovered 5 liters of sea water thats leaked into 3 watertight compartments in the cabin, just under the sleeping area near the stern.
I found out about the water when I opened up the main watertight locker, under the sleeping area, in order to get hold of my backup satellite phone to replace the current one.
I've lost about a 20 days worth of snack food, nuts, biscuits, protein bars, cereal and some packs of instant rice. Manuals & books have been soaked and are unreadable. Also lost are 20 blank video tapes for filming and backup disks, Managed to salvage some of the backup electronics stored in the compartments. I hope wires and connectors, chargers etc. will work after drying out.
Have spent all morning, emptying the contents of the cabin putting the sleeping bag, mattress, clothes, cameras, food, laptop, maps, charts everything onto the deck. A bit worried about capsizing while cleaning out the cabin as all the extra weight on the deck was making the boat top heavy.
It took me about 4 hrs to bail the water out and clean up using a sports water battle and a sponge. The water smelt a miserable mix of fermenting rice, nuts, wood, seawater, fish, sawdust and paint thinner. The edges of the watertight compartments have give me cuts all over my hands and arms as I tried to reach inside to scoop the water into the sports water bottle while being chucked about from wave to wave.
Today was supposed to be a big day, as I passed 35W, and onto the back end of the 30's. It's short of expectations. Too stressed for any photos today. Will post an update on the leak here in the next 6 hrs.
B
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