We’ve had some exciting but uncomfortable sailing since the engine was turned off early yesterday. Last night we experienced a sudden (but expected) wind shift to the SW which brought some strong winds which moderated to the W.
We adjusted heading accordingly and sailed comfortably all night in a moderating sea.
Conditions at the moment are pretty well perfect! Broad reaching on port tack with winds at 10knots from the W. We have put away the main and mizzen and are on genoa and mizzen ballooner achieving 6.5 knots boat speed in 12 knots true wind. Very comfortable!
With the water maker back to full capacity, it will be showers all around today.
One problem to report is that on Thursday night (1am Friday actually) we tried to restart the engine, but all it went was click, click…. After some time spent in the room of pain (ie. the engine room) and trying to make sense of the manual, we decided that the problem related to a safety switch that prevented the starting of the engine while it was in gear. This was “bypassed” and we managed to kick her into life around 2am. Phew! The idea of sailing through channels to our anchorage in Tonga did not fill me with joy.
But, all is good today (well, at this moment!)