Windfarm Operational Trial – 27th April 2016
‘Tenacity’ left Whitehaven on Sunday 24th April 2016 at 0500 hrs and arrived, without incident at a point 5Nm off the North Wales Coast at 0815 hrs. The vessel was then loitering until late that afternoon before it was able to go into port (awaiting the tide).
The commercial trial / demonstration which was scheduled for the 27th April did not go well when we had an engine shut-down due to the alternator and water pump vee belts failing. Prior to the failure and consequent cessation of the trials the vessel was making 38Kts into seas that saw some waves up to 3m though most were circa 1.7 – 2.3m. The subsequent need to shut down the stabiliser system demonstrated the efficiencies of that technology and earlier the ‘stern ahead’ manoeuvring was demonstrated when the Captain brought the vessel out of the deepest recesses of the marina pontoon system.
The return trip to Whitehaven took place on 5th May and was undertaken at a leisurely pace save a couple of short blasts at 38 – 40Kts. Again the vessel loitered for some 6 hrs waiting for the tide.
The total fuel consumption for the entire trip was 1450L with the initial 88Nm run down in 3¼ hrs using circa 380L according to the gauges.
The event was disappointing from the demonstration point of view but very beneficial from the trials angle as we identified a hydraulics plumbing problem and a software problem on the jets but this is why one does trails!