Creidne
Sun 5 Aug 2012 15:42
First day out has been far from perfect, although the weather GODS have been smiling down on us.First an oil pressure alarm caused us to shut down the engine and change the oil filter.( BZ Lt OC) Not fun in a seaway, with a hot engine and cramped engine room. After all that the problem persisted and it turned out to be a loose wire on the control panel.  If that wasn't bad enough the recently fitted auto pilot decided to leak oil all over the boat. Which was quickly cleaned by one of the cadets. However on a more positive side we now have a crew who know how to rig the emergency steering. The unplanned incident also gave the cadets a chance to rig the sails not once but twice which will prove beneficial on our trip. With a group of six cadets with only one competitive sailor this practice will go along way. The leak is now fixed and the system is topped up with oil. The autopilot is now turned off (forever, or at least this voyage). 
        With this behind us we can now get started on developing a routine onboard.The three way watch system has been finalised, everyone is familiar with all the equipment onboard both below and above decks. But I think it is safe to say nothing about this trip will be routinely boring. Just now a family of porpises are playing off our bow!!!.The Sat Phone linked to tough book is working great... many thanks to all involved in getting that to work.