Threeships
Shaun and Ainur Weaver
Wed 13 Jul 2016 15:14
June 13th 1500 GMT
41 48N 023 36W
Another pretty slow 24 hour run by our usual standards but quite acceptable
in the prevailing light wind conditions. Last night was damp and foggy again and
we spent most of the time motor sailing. The wind picked up around dawn for a
couple of hours and then died again. When Fi went to start the engine at 0800 it
was dead. Every sailor’s nightmare in light wine conditions. Anyway, fortunately
the wind filled in and we set off at a good rate and have been sailing ever
since – even touching 6 knots on occasion. I eventually traced the engine fault
to a broken wire on the starter motor relay. A screw driver across the contacts
started the engine in quite a dramatic way but the awkward access made this a
bit impractical so we fitted a hot wire to the engine start battery and that
worked fine being operable from just inside the port cockpit locker lid. Another
triumph of luck and ingenuity – such is life at sea. Apart from that we miss the
sunshine and wearing woollies at night has become the norm. 854 nm to run to
Kinsale in southern Ireland. All well on board, especially having Owen our Sir
Robin lookalike on the helm. |