6 August 2008 Wednesday

6 August 2008 Wednesday

A raft of engine and general boat problems has kept us busy on the boat, with no time to go exploring or sight-seeing unfortunately. The rain has also made everything soggy and unattractive – especially us! Patsy and I took 2 large bags of washing ashore to have it washed and dried, and were dismayed to be presented with two very heavy bags of WET washing the next day. Happily the hotel next door was able to wash and dry it for us, so at least we won’t smell mouldy all the time. There is a heavy swell in this harbour almost constantly, which has made a few people sea-sick on their boats, but I’m happy to report, not me.

A local electrician repaired our battery charging problems, and we headed out of the harbour at 4pm, leaving Lothlorien who had disentangled herself from the bommie, and was intending to follow us out the next morning. The plan was that we’d all meet with Cruise Missile and Serenity 2 at a rendezvous a few hours away. However after just an hour or two of pretty heavy going we realised we had very low battery power, almost not enough to start the engine. So, back into Amahusu again, and a phone call to the electrician. He turned up early next morning, did ‘something’, and it all seemed to be working okay. By the time Lothlorien was ready to go, so were we, so we sailed in company, stiff trade winds behind us which made for big seas but good speeds. At the next opportunity, with high drainage still occurring, Lex investigated further, and discovered the cause of the power drain to be a loose wire on a bilge pump in the main bilge. He soldered it back together and the problem is sorted. Not sure what the electrician did!