Not much wind - in fact hardly any at all. As usual 2-3 variable meant right on the nose. We were in for a long spell of motoring. Still, with Snorky at the helm it wouldn't be too bad. You just had to keep an eye on him from time to time, but in glassy conditions like these, he was as good as gold.

Bit overcast, but once we had passed Dover - glorious sunshine. The constant drone of the engine the only sound to be heard. Evita sunbathed on the foredeck; I kept an eye on Snorky and dutifully pumped out the engine bilges every hour on the hour. Yanni kept himself busy too. Pumping some fenders, sightseeing with the camera. A long, boring passage...

Up to a point. Then Evita had to comment about how easy it was sailing with a fully functional autopilot and how Snorky was nothing like the one we had on Yanita (Buster) who just made us do endless 360�'s. I guess Snorky doesn't take compliments well.
I had dozed off for a bit, but was rudely awoken by 'Dad, are we supposed to be turning?' Snorky had thrown a wobbly. We were doing 360� all right. Disengage autopilot, back on course, re-engage autopilot. Another 360�. All was not well. A reboot did not rectify anything.

Well, can't be helped right now. Hand helming it is. We're off Eastbourne, so it's not all that far to go. Once alongside in Brighton we'll investigate further.
Brighton was quite busy but we still got a berth. On the proviso that we were out of there not later than 10 o'clock the next morning as the dredger would operate there the next morning. Bugger, I had only intended to leave after lunch to catch the tide into Portsmouth.

Initial investigation of the autopilot left me none the wiser. But that might have been due to the fact that we were stuck in the mud. I could see their point about needing the dredge - not before time. We were stuck in the mud at Brighton last year too.
This also meant that we would need to rise early the next morning, as 10 o'clock was LW and... we would be stuck in the mud. At least we would have ample time to bunker. And they offer a good deal on fuel too.

The very helpful attendant at the fuel pontoon even directed us to another berth where we could wait for the tide. Evita returned to her bunk, whilst Yanni and I went shopping at ASDA and listened to some Eddy Izzard back on the boat. And, he still found time to go fishing with a newly acquired 'friend'. Bless him.
I was having no luck reviving Snorky - the puddle of hydraulic liquid in the cellar said it all. The ram was gone. I contacted Cetrek - or whatever is left of them - no good news. They stopped making the bits we needed in the early 90's. I called Brigitte at home to keep an eye on eBay. Something might come up.

Meanwhile, hand helming for the rest of the holiday. At least there would be one extra crewmember as from tomorrow.