The first days
Saturday was busy as we packed up the final goods and ferried them to the boat. Towards the end of packing things away, we discovered that we had left behind a number of vital items. So, back went Penny in the rubber ducky. Thank goodness the house is so close.
When we were packed up, we moved over to "The Basin". We had an enjoyable several hours on board Windchimes with friends Greg and Janise. They built their 50' steel cutter themselves and also constructed almost everything on board.
Sunday morning, we waved goodbye to Windchimes. They are awaiting an auto pilot part before heading North to Darwin and Indonesia. The forecast proved to be totally wrong. Instead of 10kt Northerlies, we had 10kt Southerlies.
Because of our low speed, we used the electronic autopilot at the start. This has given us nothing but trouble since we bought it 18months ago. Its predecessor was not much better. We will never buy Raymarine or Autohelm (who they bought) again. After 40minutes, the autopilot motor overheated. So, it was then hand steering with some brief respite when there was enough wind/speed for the wind vane. We tried a second small autopilot (also Raymarine) attached to the wind vane. This can be used in low winds and when motoring. Guess what? It has also failed!
After some time, we completed the 33NM, including an extra "free" 6NM due to the current and arrived at Port Hacking and anchored off Jibbon Beach. Then when the power boats left to go home, we picked up a public mooring for the night. As we expected the wind to change around, this was more convenient than anchoring.
The forecast for Monday was light Northerlies to start with, getting up to 15-20kts at the max. Perfect we thought. The distance to Jervis Bay was 71NM so we needed an early start. That evening, David dismantled the autopilot and found water in the motor (which is supposed to be fully sealed). The previous version had the same sort of problems. Well, after cleaning it and plenty of WD40 it seemed to be working again. We onl,y really need it in light winds and for pulling down the sail and sometimes pulling it down. If necessary, we will do without it yet again.
Regds,
Penny & Dave
