23/5/08 8:00
The wind has stopped and there is actually a scrap
of sunshine. Later this morning we will make a run for it.
Wednesday afternoon Steve and I drove up
to Pucon in the Lake
District replete with its very own comic
book shaped volcano. It’s probably
very beautiful in season but in the rain there area was deserted cold and
damp. Thursday morning
we drove to the Argentine border as Steve has been here so long his 3 month visa
would have expired before we got to Easter
Island which is still a part of
Chile. At
first they wouldn’t let us through
as we had no international insurance on the hire car, but when we said I
would stay and Steve would walk the
kilometre to the Argentine border control, they relented and allowed
Steve to drive to the checkpoint and back.
Of course no one speaks English and our conversation with the Chilean
border guard was conducted on computer via a Google translator. Like most
Chileans we have met, he was actually very helpful. As it was a seven hour drive
back, I was glad we didn’t return empty handed. Demetri had the good sense to stay on
the boat.
Before we left on Wednesday Steve had to change
the light switch in the double guest cabin’s head. This switch is cleverly positioned in
the deck head (cabin ceiling) under the Dorade vent. Now Dorade vents are supposed to be
designed to allow air into the boat whilst keeping water out of the boat. Ours
seem to have been designed in reverse and we get no air at all and occasional
bits of water which of course takes out anything electric anywhere near it. We have gradually been sealing up all of
these so called vents.
16:30
The morning sun was replaced by a couple
of hours of thick fog which burned off by midday. We did a
final provision run and spent an hour with the Navy to get our “Zarpe,” a permit
to travel to Easter
Island. The harbour was open to traffic by
mid morning. At noon they sent a young man to inspect the yacht and to be
certain we complied with safety regulations, although all of the information was
already in the paperwork. At
13:00 we cast off and an hour
later were motoring in open sea.
About 3PM I suggested we set the main to
see if it would reduce the rolling.
A piece of plastic, some sort of guide cover had dropped down the furled
sail inside the mast and jammed it rock solid. It took 90 minutes to clear the
problem and now touch wood we are all systems go. And no it didn't reduce the
rolling. We will be motoring a lot for the next couple of days to
insure we get as far North as possible before the next low tracks in from the
West.