With a little bit of luck I will actually save this blog properly as it is my second time of writing it! I’m not sure where I got to last or if I’m writing a day behind, so I’m going to bring everything up to speed. The email connection has been rubbish for the last few days so I’m trying to get this uploaded as soon as I can. We made 138 nm yesterday and we are aiming to hit mid way sometime on Monday morning , however the wind has abated a bit with an AWS of 9knts which puts us under the sun 5 knot. The thing that we don’t carry enough fuel to be super productive by motor sailing , we have enough food and water to keep us going, we just need to be t the airport by the 15th December.
So, back to boat stuff, we have been hand steering for the last 560 or so miles and we have had numerous attempts to fit the hydro and rudder to the transom . We tried he stared under the watchful eye of Bohemian who passed us at 2nm. We briefed them of our intention to get into the water. Using a tethered line, flotation aid, danbouys anything else we could muster Holger got into the water after we hoved to. This was our first attempt and it proved to be unsuccessful. After coming on board after numerous attempts we decided best to try again in 24 hours. The seas and current were far to big, and after all what could possibly go wrong !
Overnight I thought of a solution to fix the code 0 halyard by preparing a Prussik loop on the mast above the halyard entrance and using a swivel block we could use the old halyard on the outside and route it through its existing attachments . This is work for tomorrow if the weather Is suitable to go to the top of the mast.
Anyway back to hydrovanes, 24 hours later we have gone back into the water, Holger has requested that I grow longer arms to hold the rudder deeper in the water whilst attempting to understand his garbled muttering under the water. Needless to say there were some tense conversations between Simone and Holger. I took a much more relaxed view and allowed the pair to discuss the issues in German . Anyway after heaving to in a squall, getting pushed sideways at 2 knots, a few multi lingual conversations We successfully connected the two parts together. This is a huge win for the boat as we can now use the wind to steer us on a long course .
The rest of the day has been spent on a high, we ate together for the first time in a few days we relaxed , showered did some laundry. I understand the weather has been bad in the uk and has been dark cold and Misty, it has been cloudy today and you still get the sense that you’re a very long way from home. Speaking of which, I try to make a call everyday back to my daughters Amelia and Georgia, they are my favourite people in the world and I mis them very, very much, however every mile passed the half way mark means a mile closer to home.
So with a plan on the horizon and a setting sun, I’m finishing this blog, as we return to 3 x3x3 shifts again.
I know that everybody on he boat is missing family, and friends, but we are thinking of you all whilst we adventure onwards.