Arrived yesterday afternoon after two weeks back in England. New Crew Michel, Ian and Colin and we enjoyed a great meal out last night at the Sailor's Bar.

 

Today has been a day dedicated to maintenance and admin, we checked in first thing with the Arc and were advised to check in with Spanish customs which we did and found yet more paperwork that needed to be completed. Late in the morning we had a visit from our satellite communications company to check out connectivity ahead of the crossing and got the "all clear". After lunch we tackled the exhaust manifold which had been leaking since Gibraltar as we had ordered a replacement manifold back in Alcaidesa. Proved more tricky than we had thought and took a couple of hours to complete and we resolved all but the smallest of leaks.

 

Upon completing this we discovered that our fresh water pump had packed up which was a major blow and we spent a good three hours trying to ascertain the issue which I feel sure is probably a fuse but we were unable to resolve so all we could conclude is that there was no power to the motor so tomorrow we shall start the difficult task of hunting down a marine electrician to come and take a look!!!

 

All this meant that we missed sundowners at the yacht club but we have booked in for tomorrow evening so looking forward to meeting other crews and chatting through their plans for the crossing.

 

More updates to follow and more maintenance for tomorrow

 

Paul/Skipper