Monday 30th April
Got up early decide to go...but engine no go...bled 5 minutes stopped. OK, electric pump goes in. 1 1/2 hours later its in, turn it on and theres fuel dripping out of the water trap. Make some efforts to stop the leak, but to no avail. OK, out it comes..replace it with a brass connector sealed with pipe sealant. OK, bleed again, then tightening the bleed screw on the secondary filter, it broke off !! diesel squirting everywhere - off with pump ! The screw has broken off halfway down the hole. OK, off with the housing and try to drill it out - came out easily. Now to make a new one. Found a bolt of the right thread, cut it to length, cut a slot in the head for a screwdriver, cut a slot along the thread for the air/fuel to bleed out, put an o-ring on it to seal when screwed down. Put everything back together, power bleed with the pump and it's all go - whew! It's now 1230 - let's get out of here. Motored out the Mana channel - no wind - motored all the way to Navadra - arrived 1630. No- one here, anchor down, ladder out and dive into the briny - whew that feels good ! Back on deck for a quck shower and a cold beer...Quite a day ! 17 28 S, 177 03 E Tuesday 1st May Noticed yesterday that the engine is running a bit hot and the frig switch is so hot you can't touch it. Filled the header tank with water - where is it going ? Replaced the frig switch, but its drawing 15 Amps and the compressor isn't running. Checked the compressor - the clutch coil is shorted out...hmm...have to rely on the elctric frig now. During the day the freezer temperature slowly climbs and maxes out at -6.4. Will it hold it ? or will I end up having to cook up all the food ? Contacted the frig man Ali by sailmail to see if he can fix it. Left for points north ended up anchoring at Soso Bay 17 08 S, 177 13 E. Wednesday 2nd May Mail back from Vuda Pt - Ali can't fix it. Got on to Darrin at ExtremelyCool in Auckland - its a Sanden 709 compressor, he's sending one up - Good man ! Frig is actually down to -6.9 this morning, so maybe it will survive. Ran the water maker for 30 minutes, so no frig going while we do that, but its holding at -6.9 so maybe we're OK ? Left for further north, anchored in 8m in Vunaywa Bay 17 05 S, 177 17 E Thursday 3rd May Water problem traced to the cap - squeezed the grips to make it tighter - seems OK - need a spare or two of these. Left for the Blue Lagoon - breeze on the nose going out of the reef..then heading NE a lovely ESE of 15 knots arrives and we're off! Sailed into the Blue Lagoon and out the north side to Natavolo Bay where Hannah and Kyle will be staying in August...getting in looks easy enough..sail back to Nanuya Sewa and anchored at 1400. 16 57 S, 177 22 E Friday 4th May Lay day in Blue Lagoon. Frig is doing quite well - around -7.5 most of the day. It eats current though so have to run the engine every day to keep up with it - solar panels can't keep up with it, especially when its overcast. Spoke to Judith at the Novotel in Nadi, she'll arrive here tomorrow in the Yasawa Flyer. Saturday 5th May Judith arrives at 1400 on the Yasawa Flyer and we check in to the Nanuya Sewa resort for a few days. Its a delightful little resort, only space for about 10 couples and no children under 7. Thursday 10th May Judith is leaving on the Flyer - we had a great time, snorkeling, reading, doing pretty much nothing - went too quickly. Now its charging batteries, making water and getting ready to go south tomorrow. Friday 11th May Strangest thing last night, a launch from New Zealand anchored in the bay picked up its anchor and drifted onto the reef - on an incoming tide fortunately. Well they must have got off because in the morning they're definitely floating and pointing the same way as us. A diver arrives at 0700 to have a look underneath - 30 minutes later they're off heading West. 0800 pick up the anchor and head south. Mainsail up, not a bad breeze but a lot of south in it. Intention was to go as far south as possible, but it becomes not possible by 1200 and we fall off and head SSW to Nalauwaki Bay. Anchor here and see how it is tomorrow. "Aeoleous", met at Vuda Pt is here, Canadian cat, "Celsius" arrives. 1700 its still pretty blowy in here. Weatherfax shows it should go more SE tomorrow, let's hope so. 17 16 S, 177 07 E Saturday 12th May Left Nalauwaki Bay 0800 in a very light southerly breeze that never amounted to anything all day. Anchored at Mana Island at 1430. In to use the internet at the backpackers - sorry its down, don't know when it will be fixed...hmm...well no point in staying here, its a bit of a rolly anchorage and not quiet with ferries and other boats zooming in and out, so lets go to Musket Cove. Up anchor and motor off...again, motor all the way and anchor in Musket Cove at 1725. In to the bar to see folks from Vuda Pt, Fred and Peg, Gordon the WA fisherman, and the internet is working...sort of... 17 46 S, 177 11 E So, there we are... I'll work on some pictures now...cheers from Musket Cove ! |
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