Mar 20

Written by:
3/20/2010 4:40 AM 

Waking from a deep hours slumber I instinctively worked my way into the cockpit to see what had changed. Looking first at the descending sun I found it setting in the wrong place on the horizon. The poled out jib was back winded and Jargo was hove to under her own accord, not mine.

The Sailomat's vane was laid over, but Jargo was not correcting. Another problem with the new vane was my first thought. When I took the wheel and disconnected the sailomat control lines I found no resistance. Turning the wheel hard to starboard, Jargo didn't respond. The rudder indicator on the autopilot was telling me that for all my efforts at the wheel, the rudder just wasn't moving. Sometimes your mind doesn't want to believe what your senses are telling it are happening.

A quick look through a hatch showed me the steering cables were off the quadrant, the fitting that ties the cables to the rudder post. I engaged the below decks autopilot which has its own attachment to the rudder stock and Jargo quickly fell back on course. I had steering and even should the autopilot fail, my rudder was fine and I could use the emergency tiller as a third option.

Crawling below as the sun set I found the quadrant had slipped its cables because the bolts attaching it to the rudder post had backed out allowing it to slip down below its match key. A couple of hours of tricky work in a contorted position trying not to get fingers and limbs caught in the actively steering wires and pulleys had the system back in place. Due to the danger posed by the working steering system I was unable to tension it properly, but things are close and will give me manual steering to Galapagos where I can tune the steering again.

Not long after the steering was sorted I heard a cry unlike any other in my life. At first I tried to figure out what could possibly make that sound from the boat. Then from the corner of my tired eye I saw the dark silhouette against the setting new moon. A solitary sea bird had found Jargo and was calling to her through the darkness. It was nice to have company and though Jargo nor I returned the lonesome call my feathered friend stayed with us for close to six hours swooping gracefully around my floating island.

The winds have calmed and I expect them to stay this way until I can make 2 or 3 degrees North where I should begin to find the northernmost tatters of the SE trade winds. I am burning a bit of diesel to charge and look for wind, but it is better than the alternative. No, not sailing slow, but letting the diesel leak into the bilge. I found fuel in the forward bilge yesterday. Somewhere, my new tanks installed in Colombia have sprung a small leak. First impression is the inspection hatch on top may have leaked due to the very slight overfilling of the tanks. If the fuel does not leak more that's it, if I find more fuel tomorrow, I'll have a job to do in the Galapagos.

Life goes on and despite the few difficulties, this is amazingly pleasant. The Pacific is peaceful! Nick, thanks for the Wx updates. Cheers to all who have been texting on the sat phone via the contact us page. Can't get new SMS messages out for some reason, but will try again this afternoon. If anyone is so inclined would love a position report on s/v Coconut. They left a few days before me. Their track can be found at http://www.charthorizon.com/m/cz/map?vessels=Coconut&history=2009_-_Current_Position&v_scope=recent Jeff Buckley and Bon Iver on the stereo today. Might be time to start dragging a lure?

Cheers.

Lee