More work to be done
Stamper
Tue 1 Mar 2016 10:58
|
Yesterday I was very proud to have put the
spinnaker up in light winds. Intended to keep it up untill St Maarten and then
casually say that, as a solosailor, I had it up for three days. Helas, after 6
hours the metal eye that holds the sheet broke. Not something to repair at sea.
So no boasting and maybe one extr day to sail as we are now only doing 3-5
knots.
To pass the time, later, I was repairing the remote to put the transmission
in forward and reverse. MY favorite engineers in Malaysia had only put a piece
of wire to connect it. I noticed working on the engine that it was moving??!! I
could by hand trun the nuts that secure the engine on its mounts, all four of
them including the counternuts that position the height of the engine!! So it
was completely loose. GRRRRR. I did nit have the right tools to correct it but
could provisonally fix the engine again. Now I also understand why they did not
do a proper job (I even requested them to align the engine to the propshaft).
You need some very special wrenches to do that. Still they should have told me
and not let me cross two oceans with all best wishes.
Position at 11:00 UTC 01 March 2016
14:56.78 N 057:10.89 W day distance
120 Nm, 389 miles to go
Winds 8 - 12 knots , from E Speed 3-5 knots. COG 290-300 All OK. If need be I can already use the engine and reach Antigua, and resupply fuel there. Under sail alone I expect to arrive bby friday daylight at Sint Maarten. I will look for a marina for the first couple of days to clean Stamper thoroughly. |