Acabo de ler, prezados leitores, com toda atenção e grande curiosidade o suculento post do nosso herói e guru Matt Rutherford, o "MacGyver dos Mares" e confesso a vocês que estou preocupado, muito preocupado com ele. Suas reservas de energia estão no final, o que pode ser trágico e provocar o aborto da
sua ousada aventura. Na verdade o drama que o Matt está vivendo é o mesmo que a população inteira do planeta Terra, (que deveria chamar-se Água) terá de enfrentar em breve. Esgotamento das reservas de combustível fóssil. Boa e má notícia ao mesmo tempo. Mas leiam, leiam tudo que Big Matt escreveu, que vale a pena. Substancial. Saboroso. Inquietante e ao mesmo tempo agradável de ler, porque ele escreve, bem, muito bem.
Fernando Costa
600 miles east of Brazil (Day 253)
Posted on February 21, 2012 by Matt
It’s come to my attention that not everyone knows there is a tracking device on the web site. I don’t have internet access and so I’ve never seen my own web site but somewhere on the top of the home page you can click and you will see my exact position, speed, lat and long, ect.
It’s been a busy and somewhat frustrating week. I had light easterly winds for some time and although I wasn’t moving too quickly I was heading in the right direction and all in all it was pleasant. It was about as easy and comfortable as life at sea can get. Unfortunately other problems arose. When you are at home you can plug in a laptop or some other appliance without having to worry about how much power it uses. You have nearly infinite power being piped into your home (hence your electric bill). At sea I have to generate my own power in order to run my computer, GPS, or anything for that matter. Since I lost all solar panels back by the equator in the Pacific it has been a challenge to keep enough power in my batteries. I had one advantage – I had saved fuel so in a pinch I could run my engine in idle to charge my batteries. I didn’t have enough fuel to use my engine for propulsion but I could still (once in a while) give my batteries a good charge. I still have about 5 gallons of diesel set aside for this purpose but it seems that my starter is dead. I can’t start my engine without a starter. I tried to start it manually but I have found it to be quite impossible as I don’t have a crank handle and my jury rigged handle couldn’t take the load and broke. Now I’m down to just my old wind generator for power. I spent 3 full days converting a human powered generator into a... LINK
Posted on February 21, 2012 by Matt
It’s come to my attention that not everyone knows there is a tracking device on the web site. I don’t have internet access and so I’ve never seen my own web site but somewhere on the top of the home page you can click and you will see my exact position, speed, lat and long, ect.
It’s been a busy and somewhat frustrating week. I had light easterly winds for some time and although I wasn’t moving too quickly I was heading in the right direction and all in all it was pleasant. It was about as easy and comfortable as life at sea can get. Unfortunately other problems arose. When you are at home you can plug in a laptop or some other appliance without having to worry about how much power it uses. You have nearly infinite power being piped into your home (hence your electric bill). At sea I have to generate my own power in order to run my computer, GPS, or anything for that matter. Since I lost all solar panels back by the equator in the Pacific it has been a challenge to keep enough power in my batteries. I had one advantage – I had saved fuel so in a pinch I could run my engine in idle to charge my batteries. I didn’t have enough fuel to use my engine for propulsion but I could still (once in a while) give my batteries a good charge. I still have about 5 gallons of diesel set aside for this purpose but it seems that my starter is dead. I can’t start my engine without a starter. I tried to start it manually but I have found it to be quite impossible as I don’t have a crank handle and my jury rigged handle couldn’t take the load and broke. Now I’m down to just my old wind generator for power. I spent 3 full days converting a human powered generator into a... LINK
My last message to Matt Rutherford -
ResponderExcluirI'm worried about you, Big Matt, really worried, because throughout your adventure, I learned to admire you. You're my new hero and guru. I sincerely hope you arrive safely at your destination. If you need help, remember that Fernando de Noronha is straight ahead, exactly in your bow.
Good winds !
Fernando Costa, from Cabo Frio, Brazil
Hey, I quoted you for the twentieth time on my blog, look!
http://estreladalvacabofrio.blogspot.com/2012/02/matt-rutherford-600-miles-east-of.html
And I also conveyed your last message to the group Altomar - http://br.groups.yahoo.com/group/altomar/