Summer is over

The SaltyPaws has seen big waves, rain and high winds on the section from the Bay of Biscay to Gibraltar. However, as if by magic, the summer started as soon as SaltyPaws was anchored in the med off Estepone in May. This summer lasted until we hit the Balearics in the middle of September.

True, we have seen high waves and wind, but not a drop of rain or a cloud in the sky. The rain that we did see was very short in duration, and more solid than liquid, as it turned the white deck into a dirty brown. After some grumbling of the crew, this rain is followed by a deck wash, that uses a lot more water that what fell from the sky in the first place.

These conditions were absolutely perfect for our solar panels, and the long summer days even boosted the power production. During this period we could freely microwave, run the water maker and vacuum cleaner, all on the solar generated power. Since we hit the Balearics in September, we have seen lots of big rain, and dark clouds. We collected the rain, by placing a bucket under the roof drainage points, and this yielded enough water to do the dishes for a week. We thrust our water maker more than the rain in supplying clean water, and hence we have not been drinking the rain water. The dark clouds nudged SaltyPaws into power conservation mode.

For the first time in a long while, the navigation instruments were turned off when on anchor, the vacuum cleaner is not run every day, and the water maker is only used when on passage on the engine. Since we left La Rochelle, we haven't yet needed to change the propane bottle. This is mainly due to the fact we do most cooking in the microwave oven. However, for the first time we have started to use the propane to fill thermos bottles with hot water for tea and soup. Also the normal cooking has been conducted much more on the propane stove. Other power conservation measures consist of limiting the coffee from the coffee maker (but we always find enough power for at least a cappuccino in the morning), hibernating the laptop at night, and unplugging appliances that are fully charged.

Under this regime of power conservation, the solar panels produce enough power to run both the fridge and freezer. Usually the clouds clear after 3 to five days, and this will allow the batteries to charge up to full again.

For the first time in a long while, I need to think about clothes again. Not only garments like the T-shirt, but also warm clothing such as beanies, and fleeces have come out of the cupboard. Another plus is that when we go for hikes, we don't need to worry so much about sunburn anymore.

The good think about the Med is that the periods of unsettled weather do not last forever, and after two weeks of off and on cloudy and rainy weather, we have now have a number of clear sky days ahead.

gathering dark clouds

Laser sailing of Mallorca