Savu Savu update

Rogue
Alan and Noi not sure which is which
Fri 31 Jul 2009 00:13
A few days with no update but we have managed to get quite a bit done.

I have pulled the auot pilot to bits, found a cracked plastic gear carrier, super glued it back together and put a tie wrap around it. Not trusting that to take us another 1400 miles I have tracked down the part and put an order in through the head office of Lewmar in UK. None of the distributors in NZ or Aus could help because Lewmar shut down for 4 weeks at this time of year!! The busiest time of the year in the entire world for sailing and they shut down for 4 weeks, astounding. They did have an emergency number who dealt with our emergency. They can only supply assemblies, not individual parts during the shut down period. I am therefore getting an assembly that costs £310 + shipping and weighs in at 3kg whereas the part I actually need is plastic, about the size of a hand and costs £10.
The end result is that we are now waiting for the part which I have been tracking for 3 days. Once again being sent by UPS ultimately poor service I think it stands for. The part has gone from the Lewmar warehouse to UPS depot to Stanstead airport in London to Cologne to Dubai to Bangkok and is now in Singapore, it could be a long wait.
 
We have refuelled, rewatered and the battens for the main sail should be here today. So as soon as the autopilot part arrives we will be off. Weather dependant of course. Destination Vanuatu if we can leave soon and New Caledonia if we are delayed past the end of next week.
 
I have to be back in UK available for work the 27th September which is a very tight deadline
 
Looking to go for a dive next week and we are hiring a car for two days from Sunday.
 
Savu Savu is great so far. Friendly and cheap. The local beer is great and there is a happy hour every day. The lobster dinner a few days ago was £11. Noi has found the local market and bought 2 x 1.5kg lobsters for £12. She says the market is just like Thailand with loads of fresh veg, fruit and spices. Not a bad place to have to wait on a part.
 
The local internet is not bad so I will post some photos while we are here.