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November 18, 1998
San Francisco to Hawaii, Second Attempt. Update #58
58. Date: Wed, 18 Nov 98 04:32:42 GMT
Latitude: 20 degrees 21.136 minutes North
Longitude: 152 degrees 52.402 minutes West
Wind ENE, Force 4
Yesterday's fresh ENE winds gave us the prospect of arriving as early as Thursday PM, but winds and swell have been considerably slacker today, so unless there is a major wind change, we will arrive in Hilo on Friday morning.
The forecast couldn't be better, continuing ENEs to Friday -extremely good news for us at this most critical point. The big worry with boats is hitting anything hard, and mid ocean of course you only have to think about hitting other ships. The begin and end of our voyage is always the most dangerous, especially since we have such little power to fight adverse winds and lee shores. Our expectations are building, were beginning to imagine a decent, still night's sleep, a shower and endless other wonders of civil life. -Steve
KIT KORNER - PEDAL DRIVE SYSTEM Since her launching in '94, Moksha has been fitted with three pedal drive systems:
1. A home-made affair comprising an upside-down bike frame, cranks and chain connected to a 3 meter long stainless steel shaft through the hull and skeg to stern propeller. This system got us across the Atlantic, just, but was very inefficient and unserviceable.
2. Enclosed, chain-driven Seacycle system with propeller directly below pedals midships. Tested from San Francisco to Monterey early '97, with mixed results, main problem was frequent chain breakages and low quality materials.
3.Our current system is from Micromarine's Microcat, a similar direct drive, enclosed pedal-to-prop unit but considerably more reliable and stronger than the Seacycle system. Solid gear and aluminum shaft connecting pedals to propeller and cast metal casing. Considering these units were made for pleasure craft, we are very impressed with their performance. Over the last two months the three units we were given have been subjected to the severity of ocean forces, pushing a 2000lb vessel over 2000 nautical miles. With stainless steel parts and more rugged seals, this design would be bomb-proof. Well done Microcat...you got us there!
A great deal of love and attention was spent by Scott at Pitchometer Props going over the Microcat units, building the housing for firm assembly in Moksha, and custom making several new two-bladed propeller designs from stainless steel. We experienced first minor problems having overlooked the galvanic action associated with mixing dissimilar metals below the water line, but protective coating on the units and some well placed Zinc anodes did the trick. The props are works of art and perfectly pitched for our leg power. Cheers Scott and Darci.
Lewis & Smith,
The Moksha crew
Posted on November 18, 1998 7:54 PM