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Starblazer - 3/08/2014 - Back sailing.



We returned from Hong Kong with lots of goodies for Starblazer including a 20 metre air hose, first stage and regulator which has already come in handy. Sadly the lovely packet of spare ribs, packaged in the USA, was deemed to be a biosecurity hazard and was taken away at customs. We did know this was a possibility and I had declared food items on my landing slip so there was no problem. The three boxes of breakfast cereal didn't cause any problems so John is happy. We haven't found Shreddies anywhere since Gibraltar and he ran out months ago!

I have been laid low with a cold and awful cough but that is now getting better, that is one reason we delayed leaving Vuda Point Marina for another 9 or so days, getting lots of jobs done and waiting in vain for a piece of metal to be fabricated. The first task was installing the stand alone pressure switch and a relay in the domestic water pump circuit. We now have water on demand again. John put the engine back together but we still have a fresh water cooling leak from the thermostat housing, whether the engine is running or not. We'll keep an eye on it, once we get back to a city of some sort we'll look for some Radweld or something similar.

Another job on the list was to drop the second genoa. There were two reasons: 1) we don't know how much more downwind sailing we can expect and 2) it is difficult to deploy without the second pole, which managed to bend a piece of metal so badly we tried to get a replacement made. Herein lies a tale. John got a quote before we left for Hong Kong, tried to haggle it down, received a 'No' when we got back so ordered it anyway. It was supposed to be ready Monday; no because it's Eid, it'll be there Tuesday; it didn't arrive but was promised by 5.30 Wednesday; it didn't arrive. The girl in the office was not happy, the work is done in Denerau so it's not easy for her to check up what is happening. In the end she managed to pin down the chap on the phone who admitted he hadn't started the job! She was not happy and volunteered the MD's e-mail address.

Back to dropping the second genoa. It went really well but the halyard, only long enough to go from the top of the forestay to the bottom, didn't have a mousing line on it so flew free and got stuck in the lower spreaders. John tried to flick the rope off but only succeeded in flicking his glasses overboard! He tried diving down as it was only about 3 metres but visibility was near zero. He gave in and used the new air hose connected to he pony tank on deck and found them within 5 minutes. That has covered the cost of the equipment.

We ran the watermaker for several hours to fill the top tank. It had refused to run for several weeks because of the leaking filter housing so that replacement is a success. That also means the generator ran perfectly. On Thursday John tried the windlass, to let out a bit of chain - dead. The bowthruster was also dead. The main engine was dead. The generator was dead. All four get their power from the engine start battery which was fully charged so John set about chasing through the problem. A 50 amp fuse had blown. Eventually he found a thick cable taking 12 volts to the generator had been trapped between its engine and case and had chafed through. It was a relatively quick repair as the chandlers had suitable cable and we have an hydraulic crimper and suitable spares. Cruising = maintenance in exotic locations.

Tuesday was John's birthday. Sadly I felt too ill to go out so he cooked scrambled eggs for dinner though I did find the smoked salmon in the freezer and we had eaten chicken and chips at lunchtime. Wednesday evening we went through the boatyard to The First Landings resort where we had wonderful steaks. A belated birthday treat. We eventually tore ourselves away from Vuda Point on Friday and sailed almost all the way to Musket Cove. There was only one empty buoy, close up to an anchored catamaran, too close for us to lie to it. We anchored in 15 metres, more than we like but less depth got us rather close to some reefs, not a good idea. Yesterday we went snorkelling on the reef which fringes this island. The coral is slowly recovering but there was also a lot of dead coral. The fish life, on the other hand, was plentiful and varied though I couldn't find Nemo. We'll stay another night then head north tomorrow.

Joyce

My apologies. I wrote this a week ago. The skipper was going to post it but didn't. You can't get the staff these days. The Admiral

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