position 21:53.0N 37:49.0E
Ocean Rival Journey Log
Adam Power Diana Power
Tue 28 Feb 2023 05:46
Tuesday 28th Feb
The plan to use the sea breeze didn't yield the hoped for result yesterday. The sun was out all day and I am guessing that didn't generate sufficient temperature variation between land and sea for the effect to kick in. Hence we missed our target anchorage as we arrived too late to see the narrow entrance despite adding engine power as we fell short. I had a back up plan to anchor in a horseshoe reef a few miles sooner but the complicated directions in the guide didn't tally with our depth guage, and the sightline clues of wrecks and markers didn't agree either. The electronic chart is very vague around the little wadis and Kors along the coast so the plan to anchor was abandoned. Particularly disappointing as the guide promised the 'most beautiful anchorage in the red sea'.
The port tack back out overnight was productive however making 30 deg to begin with gradually increasing to 45. The wind has now dropped as forecast to around 6 kn and we are motorsailing back west in still lumpy sea.
There is a strange surfit of water in the bilge. We make a little from the prop seal and a regular hand pump deals with that quite easily. The amount however was disconcerting and a hunt round the various perforations in the hull didn't reveal any culprit. We noticed the excess water as the forward fresh water tank ran dry and switching over to aft tank involves lifting a floor board. It is possible that the contents of the aft tank have leaked out but the guage is showing full (the guage however can be unreliable). I haven't tasted the bilge water as it is contaminated with oily bilge contents but that is on the list to do. If the aft tank has emptied we have a good supply of bottled water, at Diana's insistence, to keep us going. The water level hasn't risen overnight so the fresh water is currently favourite but investigations continue. Pumping of the bilge has become an issue as well. Of the 2 hand pumps in the cockpit one isn't sucking at all and the other is gunged up a
nd pumps very slow and stiff. The electric pump also is now flooded and not working. Another job to try and get it going.
I was retrieving the fishing line while the water investigations were ongoing and just as we didn't need another distraction a fish decided to join the fun. A nice 20" Barracuda type fish with pointy nose and sharp teeth. I have just take 4 good sized fillets off the sides and returned the remains to the deep.