Day 2 SY Pimpernel position 38:46.53S 173:57.28E
Mark_needler
Professional Skipper
Thu 3 Jun 2010 14:34
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Position time 1800NZT
1030 this morning we finally made it into New
Plymouth, it was a very frustrating night, start with the lack of wind and
during the night we were getting good speeds out of the wind that we had
(still motoring though) and then the wind would bugger off
again.
We ran out of fuel in the tank during the night and
when we tried to restart the engine the batteries had only got enough power when
linked together!! When you consider they had been charging most of the day that
brought us all to the same conclusion, that the batteries were knackered.
(not the word by most of us!)
and that kind of made our quick stop a
little more ardous to say the least, because when we arrived, we thought we
would be able to pull along side the jetty and fill up there, not even
close the only place to come along side and moor was so far away
from anything it might as well have been in Auckland!
When we pulled into the Marina (smallest
one i've seen!) we spoke to a fisherman to enquire about refueling,
his look said it all! it wasn't going to be easy, but as we
finished tying the boat up he came ashore and offered to take all three of us,
his dog and all three of our jerry cans to be refuel which was
great.
We discussed batteries in the car and he said he
knew someone that could help so we refueled called a cab and went off to
get new batteries. When we got there only had one but he could get us
another well we were concerned about time.
He said no worries he would go fetch another
one within five minutes. (he was back in 3!).
So here we are three men, three jerry cans and two
heavy duty marine batteries in the cab, the only thing was that when we got to
the marina there is a gate that keeps cars out for none members! so we had
the hand carried all the stuff 1 km to the boat, well we were all
knackered after that and said so. (see previous note on
'knackered')
So after less than two hours we had run around got
fuel, batteries and water and departed at 1315, not a small effort, we even had
the new batteries fitted.
So what was the weather like when we got back out?
YES you guest it actually the same as yesterday, so we started motoring
again!
at about 1600 the wind kicked in and we are
motorsailing at a very reasonable pace.
So all is well with the world and we are
all hoping that the wind stays with us for the next couple of
days.
Cheers
SY Pimpernel crew
NEWS FLASH
BUGGER IT!!!! not 45 mins after I wrote this one of
the shrouds broke on the mast and we had to drop the sails in order to keep the
mast up right, so with descretion being the better part of valour we turn round
and returned to yes you guessed it New Plymouth, where the boat will stay while
having repairs to the mast. We are all safe, well and firmly attached to
land...........................to be continued
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