Sunny Hill

Sunnyhill
Wed 24 May 2006 10:24
Today makes it a week since we have left Hong Kong.
The crew are working well together and things are going smoothly.
The wind has been kind to us over the last week. The good little cruising
guide book says we should go down past Philippines and that anyone who tries
to go down the middle of the South China Sea at this time of year is a
Masochist as the winds and currents are against you all the way. But we have
proven them wrong.

We did break down yesterday for 4 hours. The wind was great and we had a
good sail at 8.5 knots yesterday morning from 0600 to 0900, but when we
tried to start the engine, the propeller pitch box would not release the
propeller out of feather mode. So we had to go into the box testing and
trying to guess what the problem was. Oil spurting all over the place. Ted
got a face full. A worn leaking control ring was the the problem, but with a
bit of effort we managed to get it going again. Once out of feather it needs
less pressure, so works fine under load.
The nights are very dark now as the moon is just about gone.
Today we had a swim in very nice blue warm water. Diving off the top deck
and having a ball while poor Ted was doing oils and water on the machinery
in the engine room.

Regards
Rocka