We'd been having squalls all through the day (Sunday). In the afternoon the girls went ashore and I stayed onboard; despite winds up to 25 kts the boat was happy at anchor and never moved. At 1700, after the girls returned I went across to Mohea for supper. It was still fairly blustery and I could see a light being shined off the stern so I called on VHF but everything was OK and the boat hadn't gone any closer to the reef. At 1930 I got a brief  call to return immediately. By the time I got to the boat (maybe two minutes) both engines had been started and the boat motored off the reef. Helen was on the helm and Freya was retrieving the anchor. I took over the helm and Helen went forward to assist Freya. We re-anchored further out, but it shortly became apparent that we were taking on water in the starboard hull. I started using the manual bilge pump, but after about 100 strokes the plastic shaft into which you insert the pump handle broke, the makers, Whale, are going to get a very rude email in the next few days. We then resorted to buckets (Freya doing the bucketing from the bilge and passing the bucket to Helen to empty into the cockpit drain) whilst I rigged up the shower sump pum as a bilge pump. Once we started to gain on the leak I called on VHF16 to Mohea and Broken Compass for assistance. Helmut went over and picked up the guys off Broken Compass and they arrived within about 10 minutes as Helmut had to launch his dingy and put on the outboard, BC's outboard being U/S.

BC brought an electric bilge pump which Helmut wired into the 12V system whilst I assisted with the pumping. It became obvious that the water was getting from the keel-bolt inspection plate, the seal having basically perished in two places. Attempts to use underwater epoxy to stem the flood failed because the water was coming in under considerable pressure, but eventually a combination of cocktail sticks and a tampax worked and reduced the flow to a trickle.

As soon as it was 0920 UK time I contacted the insurance brokers, Bishops Skinner, who immediately agreed to call me back on my mobile number. They contacted the underwriters who emailed a surveyor in Tahiti, instructing him to call me as soon as he read the email. I write this at 0125 local time. As soon as it is light I will dive on the boat and try and get a feel for the extent of the damage. Fortunately, there is an airstrip on Manihi so the surveyor will be able to fly in to inspect the damage, in the meantime an engine is running to make sure there is enough power for the electric bilge pump to continue working  .

Bishop Skinner advised that I do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of all onboard and if possible minimise further damage to the boat, this they agreed would include running the boat up on the beach if the leak gets worse or the pump cannot cope.

Right now, I have my fingers firmly crossed but there are absolutely no repair facilities here, although there may be a haul-out facility on an atoll 30nm away. Unfortunately, the weather is forecast to be blustery for the next few days so I would not be happy moving the boat unless we can effect a very secure, temporary repair.

And it was all going so well. More later.