Sunday Island 28-10-22

As forecasted light winds have been experienced on the passage so far so we have been motor sailing for the majority of the way. Trying to sail in 4kts winds gives us a speed of about 3kts and is no good for fishing. Motoring alone gives us a speed of about 4.5kts when cruising at low revs, but with the sails up we average about 5-6kts giving us a good boost. in speed and a perfect trawling speed.

In between wind lulls we have had some good sailing. We now have replaced the Yankee headsail with the big Genoa, and occasionally put up the Code Zero for extra power.

Our daily schedule is as follows. Rich does the 12-6 watch and Emilie does the 6-12. The kids sleep all night (hopefully). In the morning after breakfast Rich go’s to sleep, and Emilie does school with the kids. Before lunch there are radio skeds to do and other jobs around the boat. The afternoon is filled with projects with the kids such as science projects, reading book and playing Uno.

The voyage has been going well, with the exception of a small engine problem at 2am. The engine started revving up and down and I assumed it was a fuel problem, most likely with the governor. Starting from basics I checked the fuel system, found a loose bleed screw on the governor and by 0630 I had the engine going again. I love the old Perkins 4236 as it is a traditional engine and easy to work on and fault find. I don’t have to worry about possible electrical issues etc, its just air, fuel and the ignition switch.

We are motoring again now and expect the wind to fill in from the west today, and then back around to the NW through the day.

Check out our position, course, speed and weather at:
http://cms.winlink.org:444/maps/positionreports.aspx?callsign=vk7hew