saltwater readers,
Every time a salutation that google translate doesn't know what to do with. I'm almost tired of it myself. But what I really can't stand is no wind in the tropics.
It is that breeze, even though it is still so light, that brings cooling and can keep the engine off. Now there is nothing in the sea of Timor. Calm. Dead calm. And that follows nine days of waiting for the authorities who were done with it in half an hour. Australia is very expensive, has a huge bureaucratic apparatus and does not discriminate! Its own citizens also receive the same strict treatment. Super nice guys though. But the tax refund on clearance is also cunning and therefore yields little in return. A bitter setback. The show must go on.
So we left yesterday at about half past two. But not after first performing the third repair on the steering column. It turned out that the piece of wood that thing rested on was only part teak. The core was plywood that was so rotten that it kept being pressed in when we tightened things up a bit. Until we had squeezed the teak apart. Fortunately we walked through Bunnings, a kind of yippie yippie yippie yippie jee shop where I saw four spacers that I promptly took with me and that came in handy for this repair. Now the whole is finally firmly attached and the wood has disappeared. Also the teak.
No more creaking in the steering column. The play in all connections is also much less.
So we are now on our way to Coco's Keeling. That seems spectacular. Just take the gopro, goggles and flippers out of the grease and then we'll go swimming for a day or two. Finally.
Seen today; four water snakes, a turtle, various birds including frigate birds, gannets and the inevitable dolphins. A smaller species here. There's pinball! We sang in unison, of course.
Furthermore, we have spent the past few hours messing around with sail up, sail down and yet continue to motor. The problem is a bit I think we have a 500 liter tank but not sure. With roughly 5l per hour consumption you can sail with it for 100 hours, say 500 Miles. But I don't really know.
However, we only had to fill up with 150 liters at once to get completely full again. That is why we now have two extra 20 liters on board so that we can sail completely empty and then still be able to walk into a port. We will see. Friday will be windy again.
Hello Amici
