23 September 2010
Life is full of surprises, most of them good but not always. We were alerted last night to the fresh water pump running involuntarily. Oh ho! Is this a leak? Unfortunately it was. The accumulator tank had developed another tiny hole. The original weld, done in French Polynesia was still sound. Just on the off chance that we could find someone with welding equipment David took it over on the ferry to Home Island. What a stroke of luck. The first place we came to was a workshop, a huge sign overhead which read 'Welding'! A very neat job was made, free of charge. "From one sailor to another"! On the way here we noticed the SSB whip aerial looking precarious at the place where the two pieces join. Hardly surprising when you think of the conditions we sail in. On close inspection David found that the thread had worn. After several unsuccessful attempts to join the two ends, he struck on the idea of putting a sleeve of plastic pipe over the outside held on with jubilee clips. A bit of a "Heath Robinson" affair but it seems to have worked. It remains to be seen for how long it holds. As I have said before the SSB radio link with other yachts is vital to us and we really could not contemplate life on the ocean without it. So our fingers are crossed that both temporary repairs hold until we reach Reunion Island, 2480nm away. We believe that that is the best place to have the parts shipped from Amel. My article for Yachting World is titled, "Fixing things in Exotic Locations", and here at Direction Island aboard Voyageur, we have the perfect example.....
Susan Mackay