L'Eau Commotion Westabout

8:00pm Friday 7th September 2018 ( UTC+10 )
The wind did swing round to the North East and North but dropped away to slight breeze and though the full main was set the speed often fell below 2 knots. Just maybe from around midnight it will increase to ten or twelve knots to give a beam reach for another 24 hours when it is forecast to come from the South or South East. A Sunday morning arrival is looking increasingly unlikely. Seeing the journey is being undertaken without motor propulsion it was time to check the forward and reverse gear which was found to have frozen solid. In an attempt to disconnect the throttle cable at the motor the small nut had rusted up so it broke off so we now have limited control over the power setting. The gear change cable was also stiff but by removing a small split pin the gears can be changed manually though this means climbing in and out of the rather cramped cockpit locker. Could be interesting in a crowded marina. As I close this entry I notice the breeze has come up a little and we are now travelling on course at 3 1/2 knots.