Monday 28th July
Ian and Annie get up early, Ian cooks breakfast then the two head ashore with the vang before 8am to try and get the repairs organised a soon as possible. Yacht services are very helpful and very soon the vang is away to be welded and an electrician is on his way. Once he arrives Ian requests that everyone leave the boat for the day as it’s going to be turned upside down and it won’t help to be clambering over bodies. Alex heads off to do customs to ask advice as we have returned to New Caledonia having cleared. A hundred “ANNULLED” stamps later, over every document we possess, our leaving the country is null, void and cancelled – we never left. Phil and Kevin get some victuals and Annie to’s and fro’s from the chandlery in between trying to assist Ian. Ian wishes Stewy was here! Raoul, the French electrician, is with us all day. He eventually manages to get a fix on the plotter but is concerned that it might go again as there appears to be a problem with the wiring. He also helps with a few other things. Ian manages to replace the cockpit light, fix the navigation lights and service the winch. There’s still a bit of a leak at the mast – Ian and Annie try to locate the problem and silicone it up – it’s definitely better but maybe not foolproof just yet. They also manage to get a heck of a lot of white sticky stuff all over themselves and everything around them! Annie spends considerable time cleaning up. It’s non stop all day until about 6.15pm when Annie goes to pick up the rest of the troops who have radioed to say they’re becoming hypothermic! Back at the boat Ian’s still putting things together. Alex and Annie decide on a quiet night aboard while Ian, Phil and Kevin head into the night. They go to the Café D’ Arts for food and drinks – home at 11.30 for a nightcap.