Lots of fun and games aboard since Jonathan's last email - just in case we were in danger of getting bored.
I (Heather) was on the helm Wednesday evening when the steering jammed completely. Fortunately we switched onto the Autohelm and it kicked in immediately. That was odd we thought (although I suspect Jonathan thought it was something daft I had done). A little bit later the Autohelm reported a problem and refused to play anymore, so we took over hand steering for the rest of the night while we looked into the problem. What joy - 2 hour stints at the wheel all night long, I needed an upper body workout (and if anyone says this is what we should be doing anyway, I challenge them to have a go). By the way did I mention that we have 30 knots winds with lively seas at them moment?
The following day we carried out a few experiments, with the emergency tiller at the ready (just in case). The Autohelm appeared to be working but with some rather odd noises coming from its little box. I would add that we cannot use our Hydrovane system at the moment as, after consultation with the Company, it appears to have a faulty rudder that insists on steering us to port no matter how hard we plead.
Yesterday afternoon however the Autohelm again decided to work intermittently but when we tried hand steering that was also being jammed with alarming frequency - a decision had to be made. To Jonathan's credit he worked it out that it had to be the Autohelm that was the root cause and that it had to be disconnected. A hell of a call because if the steering was faulty, the Autohelm was the only thing that could get it going again. With precision timing, Jonathan went down below , Leatherman in hand to disconnect, as Heather turned over and took over. Thankfully he was right - what a man I married.
So yet another night doing 2 hours stints at the helm in very lively seas. I am however, becoming very proud of how I can surf Tilly down a wave - I swear I got the best part of 15 knots out of her once but Jonathan tells me thats impossible so it must be the mind playing tricks (I definitely, absolutely, cross my heart, got 12 knots more than once).
Its at times like this though that you are really glad you are with the World ARC. The SSB net has been incredibly supportive and its clear we are already watching out for each other. Just to give an example, Herve on 'Ruby', a French boat nearby, contacted us to offer support and that they all had 6 fingers crossed for us, when Harald from 'Sophie', a German boat, chimed in to offer same and that they also had 4 fingers crossed. Just makes you wonder what the EU could achieve with the same spirit of co-operation and friendship.
Must get on, we continue to be both healthy and happy, Jonathan even managing to grab some more sleep.
Bye for now
Heather and Jonathan
PS from Jonathan - another distance record broken this morning as we covered 176 nautical miles to 7am!