Hi,

Decided not to call this article Pacific Crossing 3 due to the recent chain of events we have had while out here in the deep blue. The Pacific Crossing is a long one and the longest sail we will do this trip. It is one of the most isolated (there it is again) stretches of water in the world and you can actually get to a point where there is nothing closer that 1800 nautical miles in any direction. I love ocean passages and could just keep sailing around and around as long as there was beer, rice and an occassional fish to eat but the strain had been telling on Jo and Keely as we entered the third week of our passage. We seemed to have had nothing but bad luck. Halyards jamming, unexpected jybes, furling sails that will not furl, main sails that tear and motors not starting when needed (isolators) flat batteries, leaky hatches, leaky fittings, lack of wind, squall lines every night and basically everything that could go wrong or make the journey difficult has happened.

It is day 23 for us since we left Panama and by all accounts we should have arrived in Hiva Oa in 4 days time but this has been delayed by a further 2 days. Firstly we were headed for the Gambier Islands and Mangareva at the bottom end of the Tuamotus Archipielago when all of a sudden we had no power aboard. The starboard engine would not start and all other batteries except the Port engine starter battery was as flat as a cane toad on a Territory road. This was odd and we put it down to the freezer using all the power. This was real but not the ultimate cause which turned out to be the Battery Isolator Guard on the Starboard Engine is minus a few workable diodes and power has been going all over the place except where it should have gone. We heard on the radio that there were no ATM or CC facilities or cash exchange in Mangareva so we thought we would not be able to make things right so we changed course back to Hiva Oa in the Iles Marquises which was our original destination. Gavin LeSeuer, our good friend and last owner of CH was very helpful in tracking down the isolator issue which is still with us but is now isolated as all good isolators should be. In fact it is so isolated we always forget to de-isolate it when we need the engine.

We finally made it into the Trade winds and life started to look great but then the wind backed to the east from the south east and we had to drop the main and continue on to the west under genoa alone with the wind dead astern. A difficult point of sail and the wind was too strong for the Code Zero at 20 plus knots apparent and an adverse current or so it seemed. At 2300 Jo calls out to me that we have jybed and can I help. Up on deck, lights on and the genoa jybed across to starboard when the wind picked up to 30 knots and we thought we should shorten it but the furling line was jammed. Up gets Gill and we undo the line forward and restack the furler when Jo points out the Spinnaker Halyard is wrapped on top of the genoa as well. More night work in 30 knots on a wet deck with kamikazi flying fish and a crazy cat hell bent on getting them fresh to contend with. All done when we discover that the autopilot cannot hold the new course and that we should be doing 7 knots instead of 6. Engines on and sail furled but still no course for the autopilot nand to make matters worse the engine on the starboard side was working but the propellors did not seem to be working. What the bloody hell had gone wrong now??????

There was a strange banging sound coming from port aft and when we investigated we saw a catastrophic failure had occurred on the starboard rudder and it was swinging wildly and crashing onto the propellor on the saildrive in a crazy manner and potentially damaging the seals and allowing water inboard as well as destroying itself and its fittings allowing us to fill with water. Two ways to flood the boat as well as stress everything. Wow, 1400nm from anywhere and "Houston we have a problem".

The best course of action as we could no longer steer as we just went around in circles was to douse all sail and heave to by lying a hull to the waves and wind. As it was blowing 25 knots with a 2m sea and 3m swell from the East it was a bit bouncy but we decided to wait till morning to see what could be done. At first light we saw the damage that had been done. The rudder shaft had snapped completely, there was no paint on the rudder and the saildrive was coping a real hiding as was the rest of the boat with up to a 5m wave at times swinging us all over the place. We thought we should secure the rudder and tried several times to do this by getting into the water and trying to tie it up. This turned out to be very dangerous and I was swept away a few times, banged against the hulls and caught under the boat when my life line was tangled on the saildrive. We decided to give ourselves 48 hours for a weather improvement and try again but 36 hours later it was still blowing 20 plus and the seas if anything were steeper so plan 2 was enacted after many emails to Gavin to discuss. By this time we were also very despondent and I had contacted the MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) in Papeete, Tahiti to report that we were in a precarious situation and although we were safe and well with plenty of food and water if we could not affect repairs we would need assistance.

Plan 2 was to force the rudder and lower half of the snapped shaft out of the boat and just use one rudder as the broken one fell to the ocean floor. We pulled the top section off and realised the shaft had broken within the boat itself and not at the upper or lower seals/bearings. The lower shaft section was jammed but was also scouring the inside of the hull assembly it was seated in and would have worked its way through the watertight bulkhead within a few hours. We realised that this was what had been happening but did not realise how bad it had gotten in such a short time. We needed to punch it out and used a small hammer and an old broom handle greased with several good swear words and to our absolute amazement it fell out and disappeared down into the Pacific Basin. There is a leak through the rubbing and grinding but it is manageable.

This was the first win we had had and it felt good so we continued in all haste to see if we could get away with steering the boat with one rudder. It worked and 50 minutes later we are underway again and monitoring the leak as well as adjusting our course and sail plan to stay under 6.5 knots which is about as much as one rudder seems to be able to handle. So why was all the paint missing from the rudder and why did we think we had an adverse current. We had picked up a heavy net and had trailed it without seeing it astern for a few days. As the wind was so steady it was not a drag on the autopilot but when the wind backed and we jybed all hell broke loose in what should have been a solid stainless shaft but in actuality was a thick tube and sheared it completely. b The net had removed all the lovely antifouling. It was very nice and calming to have so many people email with offers of aid such as Gavin once again using his talents to help us through it and Wes on OneWorld keeping us all sane. The troops on the Pacific Magellan Net talked to us and offered assistance and the MRCC of Peru and of Papeete called on the sat phone several times ready to render a rescue.

We are now due in Hiva Oa Easter Sunday/Monday and look forward to having a break from catastrophes and disasters and to enjoying a cold beer and a good rest unless Murphy arrives again before we get there............ So was there a Plan 3? Yes, and it meant abandoning CH to the oceans as it was a very difficult situation with a family and young kids aboard. This plan would have been enacted immediately if we could not have removed the rudder as it is just a matter of time before were were filled with water.

be good