Amokura - LOG DAY 4 - Genoa Drama

Day 4

After a peaceful night, the morning began in dramatic fashion at 0630 when Mark shouted for all hands on deck as the genoa had come down suddenly. Had he blown the whistle, for use in extreme emergencies, he might have got crew in a greater state of undress as all were deep in the land of nod. As it was, life jackets were hastily donned and we all clipped on in a line along the port side, avoiding the slippery bodies of a few flying fish that had hitched a ride overnight. Fortunately it was not too big a task to wrestle the 86 sq m sail out of the water and tie it down along the deck.  A cursory inspection suggested that the shackle at the top of the halyard failed, the sail then started to come down, in the process bending the metal foil that the sail slots into. Further investigations will be needed in Mindelo and a volunteer to go up the mast.  No one seems keen to do so whilst at sea!

In the meantime we hoisted the main and rerigged the preventor to keep the boom in place.

More diagnostics on the watermaker this morning. Nic had been having an email dialogue via satellite with technical support at Fischer-Panda who suggested a fix, circumventing the problematic sensor. After some deliberations, a Heath-Robinson-esque rig of pipes and hoses snaked out of the engine room and saloon hatch. Leaks plugged, the water was tested for salinity and pronounced fit to drink and therefore we commenced topping up the tank.
Water is such a precious commodity at sea, drinking water has to be a priority. We have been told that a general shortage of the substance at Cape Verde means any usage there will be rationed so it will be good to have our tank topped up on arrival.

In the midst of all this, we noticed the AIS automatic identification system didn't seem to be working properly as it wasn't picking up other vessels. A reboot failed to solve the problem so something to investigate further in Mindelo.

All this excitement took up most of the morning but we are still joking and smiling.  Problems at sea usually require ingenuity and flexibility as there are few resources to call upon.

Mark discovered when checking our fishing gear that the lucky luminous lure and weight had been taken by some monster of the deep. A beauty parade of alternatives from the locker was sourced and a fetching neon pink one with glittering skirts and pearls was selected. Let's hope the fish are equally impressed!

The wind has eased and so as a result our speed has slowed but Amokura is still eating up the distance

Miles logged in the last 24 hrs - 156 nm
Distance remaining to run - 224
Average speed 6.5kts

Signing off...

Liz Brigstocke