Halloween at Sea

31^st October 2022

We are being churned about like the potion in the Macbeth’s witches’ cauldron. A fitting simile for this Halloween 2022 at sea. The day started with Jack o’ Lantern crepes prepared by George. A much-needed reward after a night of squalls, wind shifts and intense rain. Yesterday we had a reprieve, a sunny day, with gentle winds and a more settled sea state. During the night we returned to rollicking rollers, cloudy skies, and the constant possibility of rain. Towards the end of my watch, at 05:30, a big rainstorm hit with winds touching 35 knots, we charged through the water at 11+ knots. The driving rain cleaned the cockpit for me, relieving me of one of my morning chores! During the night we spotted Nikaia a few miles away, negotiating the waves and wind just like us, a welcome friendly soul.

Over the past couple of days, we have had a few dramas to punctuate our days. The generator developed an air bubble and shut down shop. The lads, Louis, and Rob, set to and fixed it in a jiffy!

We had been warned that the fuel we bought in Gili Gede, in Indonesia, was dirty. Oyster supplied each boat with Racor filters and suggested that we change the engine and generator filters every couple of days. Subsequent fuel top ups in Bali and Cocos Keeling were, thankfully, clean. At each filter change the dirt in the filters diminishes.

We began to notice over the past 2 or 3 days that the steering was getting very stiff and gritty. At about 16:00 on the 29^th, it came to a head as hand steering became well neigh impossible, not helped at all by the mountainous seas. Louis and Rob decided to grease the rudder post bearings and to take a look at the Mamba Drive mechanism. The greasing resulted in a little loosening but added a gruesome squeaking at each turn of the wheel. This, luckily, eventually subsided. Additionally, they opted to exchange the Mamba Drive for a refurbished unit, which caused the auto pilot system to go on strike. The thought of 3 hour night watches with only hand steering available, plunged us all into a depression. Have no fear, our boys came to the rescue! They took out the new drive, returned the old one, did a bit of this and that, and with a wave of their magic wands, we were back in business. However, some work will be done in Mauritius to fix the problem and fix the refurbished drive, so we have a replacement when we need it.

All this with no Satellite phone to contact the outside world! Thank goodness for the SSB radio net twice a day. We asked our friends to contact the local agent and advise him of our probable arrival time. Other rally participants offered help with our other issues, so we do not feel helpless and alone. We are really looking forward to having internet connection and cell coverage when we arrive in Mauritius.

George has been fishing intermittently. He is feeling a little despondent, having lost 2 lures in 2 consecutive days. Bouncing back, the rod is out again. Tonight, Tuesday, November 1^st, we will have a poke bowl with freshly caught tuna, I can already taste it!