We now have just three weeks left for final preparation before we set off on the passage from Chichester Harbour to Lefkas, Greece. SYCORAX came out of the water at the beginning of January for the usual anti-fouling and top-side polishing. This also gave the opportunity to change the prop-shaft bearings and fit an additional through-hull transducer, this one being for a forward looking sonar device to hopefully warn of any hidden objects in our path ahead which might cause problems.
In the weeks leading up to lift-out the gantry was added supporting two 85W solar panels and a Rutland wind generator - the silent kind! The lack of sunny weather in the early part of the year gave little chance to prove the capabilities of these power generating devices but recent weeks have demonstrated their value.
Although we relaunched in mid-March, the poor weather and on-going work prevented any sea-trials until the middle of April however in the last three weeks we have had three outings and - so far so good. During a recent sail in very light winds other sailors must have wondered if we knew something they didn't as we first tried our new storm-jib, then put in not one, not two but three reefs in the main!
This weekend we will again be on the water as we visit Seaview Yacht Club for a social with the Chichester Cruiser Racing Club. Latest forecasts are predicting fine weather but quite strong winds for Saturday, which will be good for practice despite the fact we were looking forward to a gentle and relaxing day on the water. It will also give us the opportunity to try out the Delorme inReach satellite tracking system in anger for the first time. Go to
https://share.delorme.com/BrianDandridge
to see the track. We also have AIS transmition capability and, while we are in range of shore-based VHF receivers, can be tracked at
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?mmsi=235033534¢erx=-0.8185933¢ery=50.80339&zoom=10&type_color=9

The rest of the weekend will be taken up with other preparation work, which will include applying the Marine 16 treatment for diesel bug. I don't think we have any bug but prevention is better than cure!
During our recent sea-trials I have been delighted by the performance of the new power-generators. The combination of solar panels and wind-generator have ensured the batteries have been kept well topped up even when we have run the fridge, on-board navigation PC, and auto-pilot all at the same time. When the sun was out the monitors showed that we had power to spare, which is most reassuring. I just hope our passage south will be blessed with plenty of sunshine and moderate breezes!