Later That Week
At last it appeared that we might have a decent weather window, so we planned to leave with the early morning tide on Tuesday. The evening before, our friends from “Forever”, Peter, Yvonne, Ben, Cora and ourselves had a farewell supper together at a very good restaurant which mysteriously changed nationality on us. We had looked for a Chinese one which had been recommended, and found ourselves instead in an excellent Japanese restaurant. (I was a coward and had COOKED chicken….Alec had raw tuna and loved it)
Next Morning
6.30 a.m. Woken by Peter who had had decided not to leave as planned due to overnight winds. We decided, after studying the synoptic weather chart and the forecast to leave anyway. We had the most brilliant day motoring as there was no wind, accompanied by dolphins and a whale who spent a good ten minutes displaying his flukes. I still get goosebumps thinking about it. Absolutely beautiful.
The wind picked up during the afternoon but it was right “on the nose” as had been predicted, so we still had to motor. Quite a rough and bumpy night which got progressively worse as the wind increased up to 20 knots., Because of the all the problems we had had with the motors, Alec checked the oil levels every 4 hours, and found that the starboard engine was doing exactly what it did 10 long weeks ago, before we had had the repairs done! He kept topping up the oil, and we motored on through the day.
Then that night the weather deteriorated and the oil consumption was getting a tad ridiculous, overall 5 litres in 32 hours, so we decided after much discussion, to turn back to Maputo. I shed a few tears of sheer frustration, having got this far and having to go back again!
Once we turned back the wind was in our favour and we had a lovely sail in strong winds increasing to over 25 knots during the night and we are proud of the fact that we felt in control at all times. We were helped by our wonderful windvane, nicknamed Zodwa after our hardworking garden lady, who held us on course without any adjustments for over 8 hours and allowed us to catnap for periods of 20 minutes at a time during the night.
This aborted trip has given us a lot of confidence being that it was our first overnight sail together without any other crew.
Back In The Mud Marina, Maputo Again
Anyway, here we are again, unhappily sitting in the marina mud and totally frustrated. Neither engine had been tested before being reinstalled in the boat and If the normal bench test had been run the problem should have been picked up.
The starboard engine was quickly taken out yet again and the original fault was eventually found - a small hole in the exhaust manifold through which the oil was leaking. This can be fixed, but requires a new engine head from Cape town so more waiting. In the meantime to cyclone season looms ever closer. Chances of reaching Madagascar , our main objective for this year, are now looking extremely unlikely.
Even though we were “gutted” to have to return to Maputo with engine problems, this third visit has proved to be a very happy and frustrating one in equal measure. We have made some wonderful friends both on yachts and ashore, so life has not been dull.
At last it appeared that we might have a decent weather window, so we planned to leave with the early morning tide on Tuesday. The evening before, our friends from “Forever”, Peter, Yvonne, Ben, Cora and ourselves had a farewell supper together at a very good restaurant which mysteriously changed nationality on us. We had looked for a Chinese one which had been recommended, and found ourselves instead in an excellent Japanese restaurant. (I was a coward and had COOKED chicken….Alec had raw tuna and loved it)
Next Morning
6.30 a.m. Woken by Peter who had had decided not to leave as planned due to overnight winds. We decided, after studying the synoptic weather chart and the forecast to leave anyway. We had the most brilliant day motoring as there was no wind, accompanied by dolphins and a whale who spent a good ten minutes displaying his flukes. I still get goosebumps thinking about it. Absolutely beautiful.
The wind picked up during the afternoon but it was right “on the nose” as had been predicted, so we still had to motor. Quite a rough and bumpy night which got progressively worse as the wind increased up to 20 knots., Because of the all the problems we had had with the motors, Alec checked the oil levels every 4 hours, and found that the starboard engine was doing exactly what it did 10 long weeks ago, before we had had the repairs done! He kept topping up the oil, and we motored on through the day.
Then that night the weather deteriorated and the oil consumption was getting a tad ridiculous, overall 5 litres in 32 hours, so we decided after much discussion, to turn back to Maputo. I shed a few tears of sheer frustration, having got this far and having to go back again!
Once we turned back the wind was in our favour and we had a lovely sail in strong winds increasing to over 25 knots during the night and we are proud of the fact that we felt in control at all times. We were helped by our wonderful windvane, nicknamed Zodwa after our hardworking garden lady, who held us on course without any adjustments for over 8 hours and allowed us to catnap for periods of 20 minutes at a time during the night.
This aborted trip has given us a lot of confidence being that it was our first overnight sail together without any other crew.
Back In The Mud Marina, Maputo Again
Anyway, here we are again, unhappily sitting in the marina mud and totally frustrated. Neither engine had been tested before being reinstalled in the boat and If the normal bench test had been run the problem should have been picked up.
The starboard engine was quickly taken out yet again and the original fault was eventually found - a small hole in the exhaust manifold through which the oil was leaking. This can be fixed, but requires a new engine head from Cape town so more waiting. In the meantime to cyclone season looms ever closer. Chances of reaching Madagascar , our main objective for this year, are now looking extremely unlikely.
Even though we were “gutted” to have to return to Maputo with engine problems, this third visit has proved to be a very happy and frustrating one in equal measure. We have made some wonderful friends both on yachts and ashore, so life has not been dull.