Heading for the exit of Valetta Port and being singlehanded I engaged the autopilot ( for which the yard made three new pipes to the pumpmotor but also installed it against our deal). Once the autopilot was engaged I concentrated on the electronic chart and when looking up Dora Mac had turned heavily to port heading straight for a moored ship on my port side. Disengaging the autopilot going into hard reverse I managed to avoid collision but it was close.

Once out in open sea with winds around 30kts and quite heavy seaway I had Dora Mac tested in both headseas as well as rolling in beamseas, and apart from the usual light vibrations on 1000rpm I found nothing of the pathological vibrations experienced on our crossing from Crete. Being without autopilot I needed to be fast diving into the bilges of engineroom and aft cabin to check the new shaftseals finding both to perform well.

In the afternoon I was safely moored in Msida Marina and dove into the autopilot system to find out what made Dora Mac turn hard to port when engaged.