The Epic Voyage has Reached it's Conclusion. With scattered thunderstorms and showers welcoming us, we left Fastnet Rock behind at dawn, then passed the Old Head of Kinsale in a squall. We eventually pulled up to the Trident Hotel this afternoon at approximately 1630. A great group of friends and colleagues were on the dock to welcome us home. Bless them. Orla had the champagne ready! We are blissfully happy to be back in Kinsale. The repairs held just fine; the boat is safe and secure. We are having pizza (Friday!) with friends at Ard na Mara, then on to the Bulman. I'll write a wrap-up blog with photos after we have had time to decompress. Thanks for all of your prayers and support. It means more than you know to us. Hope I can sleep more than three hours tonight!
Fair winds, my friends.

Well, the repair is done as best we can do it. David and I re-set the shaft, and Ted ground the set screws down so they would re-seat properly. The shaft key is secured as best we can secure it, so we feel that it should hold for the length of time we'll need it. We should be able to motor into the harbor and to our berth. We have arranged with our dockmaster to have a RIB accompany us, in case the repair fails and we need help getting in. We are moving at a good clip, so tomorrow is still our likely landfall. We're sailing wing-on-wing, with new birds (fulmars and gannets) keeping us company. Lovely. We just saw a rainbow on the horizon. Cliche? Not at all. A very 'knackered' crew, though.

Thanks to Orla and Tadgh for their help, and a belated happy birthday to Bart.

Fair winds!

Well, it seems to be the nature of this venture to remain unpredictable. Yesterday we had a big, unpleasant surprise. Our propellor shaft has slipped out of the coupling to the engine. It happened after motoring and then sailing a bit with the engine in neutral. Big shock. Because of the design of our boat, the shaft stayed in the boat, which was a blessing. We immediately hove to and diagnosed the problem. Not sure what caused it, but the set screws and key are not holding properly, if they ever were. We have reassembled it, and are sailing again. But we are going to have to spend some time today trying to repair it as best we can. Best case: we get it reassembled securely and can motor again when it becomes necessary in the harbor. Next case is that we can reassemble it, but not very securely, and can only use the forward gear with great caution. This pushes the shaft into the coupling, while reverse gear pulls it out. Not ideal. Worst case is no workable engine.

I will once again try to contact the dockmaster for Castlepark Marina as well as this time the Kinsale Yacht Club. Hopefully we can get someone standing by with a RIB as we come in, in case we are really unable to motor. We still should be approaching tomorrow (Friday), but we need to be conscious of the tides and currents in the harbor as we try to dock.

Not ideal; we'll make the best of it. I feel like after 4000nm, we are barely limping to the finish line. But here we come.

Fair winds.

Weather has moderated, we are approx 48 hours away. Looks like Friday mid-day landfall.

Fair winds, indeed.!