Onboard computer

We have been building an onboard computer system. The Linux boot works fine, but Windows 7 keeps crashing. Also the case is getting warm. Getting warm in the middle of winter is worrying... how hot will it get in summer? So I have mounted an external SATA and power connector on the case and now mounted the solid state hard disk outside the main case, which will allow me to cut a hole in the top of the case to allow better circulation from the CPU fan. Tim's IT guy suggested that the problem with it crashing was due to the display adaptor device driver - so I found the Intel CD and installed new drivers. Let's see if its more stable now.

Sanding toe rail

Tim took a day off and together we went down to king Malu with the intention of finishing sanding the toe rail - which we did! We also changed the anode on the propeller shaft and gave the anchor an extra coat of Hammerite.

Sanding toe rail

Well... the suposed beautiful varnished teak toe rail wasn't... beautiful that is. I had taken a break between coats 2 and 3 of the varnish (of 5) and during that time the hot Mediterranean sun had bubbled the varnish and it wouldn't take.

So... one of the teaks is to sand off the varnish and oil the wood. The plan had been for Tim to use the bigger sander to take off the majority and my to use a new triangular one for the detail. But after 2 minutes the head fell of the big one. Both the thread on the head and on the motor had torn and it could not be used. So we decided to epoxy the head to the motor and work out a long term fixing later.

We carried on with the smaller triangular sander. 2 hours work (we planned on only 2 hours per day) and about 25% of the toe rail is finished. So the job looks manageable.

Tim also put a second coat of Hammerite on the anchor. This is a silver colour: The first was dull green, so we should know when the top coat wears away from the change in colour.

No more work for a couple of days... it is Christmas after all!

Antifouling

The first job is a quick sand over the whole hull to allow the new antifouling to adhere to the old. We had been told the paint partly chemically bonds and partly physically bonds to the old and so cutting in slightly helps.

We had put on two coats of antifouling last year so I am slightly surprised that it had gone all the way through to the epoxy skin coat in places. I wasn't too pleased about that. It means antifouling will be a significant annual cost.

We had a little of the black left over so I rollered that over the places where it had gone through. This means that we should have three coats of antifouling on the hull now, and because the new is blue not black we should be able to see when it goes through.

 We had bought 'moon suits' this year as the antifouling is pretty wicked stuff and we think its prudent to be as careful as we can. Last year I got some on my skin and used thinners to remove it, only to find the thinners stung like crazy... hmmm.... not a good idea, moon suits are better!

Jacob (now 11) is wearing an adult suit, with masking tape at suitable places to hold it in check.

Having Jacob and me together works well: He does the lower reaches and I do the higher reaches.

This year it was even better we also had Tim about, cleaning the propellor and running around getting paint and a hundred other things to keep us going (like coffee).

The blue looks significantly better than the black. Tim and I are really pleased with the result.

By 14:30 we have finished. King Malu looks amazing again. On the other hand... I don't! 

I can hardly recognise myself in the photo. Showing the photo to family afterwards they reckon I look Egyptian. I don't really know why.

Even wearing a 'moon suit' googles and a face mask this is not a clean job! But... we did it in a day.  So that was very encouraging. It means we can do an antifouling over a weekend liftout next year if we want.

We still have a number of messy outside jobs to do. We want to sand down the toe rail. The varnishing of it didn't work and we want to remove the varnish and use oil instead.

10 days till she goes back in the water... must remember we have to do antifouling under the bracing points...

Lift out

Plan is to arrive at the marina at 13:00, have sandwiches onboard and then lift out at 14:00... tight because I have an airport run at 15:30 and another at 16:15. And... of course... everything is running late!

So, we talk to Nickos and he hopes to lift before the end of the day. If all goes to plan, maybe 15:00 to 15:30. So we go to the club for a beer and then round to King Malu.

When we see Nickos lift the boat ahead of us we let go the lines and motor round to the wet dock to be next in line.

It's around 15:15 that Nickos is ready to start lifting us. The flights from the UK are running late so I do have a few minutes and Tim and Jacob will stay with the boat.

The for'ard mooring lines have to be let go and the straps walked underneath the boat ready for lifting. Since the wind is from the east, the tendency is for King Malu to drift over to the port side.

I just about see her starting to be lifted before I have to leave and go pick up relatives at the airport.

I never get to see the barnacles growing on the hull except on the photographs Tim took.

The was a line of barnacles along the water line. That is something we can keep under control.

The anode is pretty encrusted too... no surprises there, as is the propellor. We'll have to try getting some anti-fouling for the propellor to keep it cleaner next year.

But the strange bit is the the growth under the stern above the propellor. We have no idea why the growth was there.

Nickos power washed it down and that took off almost all of the growth and slime and then Tim and Jacob cleaned where the straps had been removed the slightly firmer encrustations.

We were the last boat out before the Christmas break and we will be the first boat in after the break. So Nickos put us opposite the workshop and left the crane just a few metres back (to give us clearance around the boat).

Antifouling

Big storm last night. Winds reached 49 knots... that's beaufort 10! King Malu looks fine... so today we went down to Ocean Marine at Limassol to get some more Awlgrip antifouling to put on the hull when we lift her out. We got deep blue this time so when we put it over the black we will have an indicator of when it has rubbed away.

Then in the afternoon we made a couple of rings (looking just like hoopla rings) to go behind the speakers for the cockpit.

Gentle day sail

4 nautical miles

4 hour sail, in very light winds. 

We went first to the mooring spot north of the harbour for a coffee, then out for a very gentle sail. 

I tried out the autopilot tacking today - always better to try things in very light winds before you urgently need to do the process. So I hit the buttons and let the autopilot tack us and I managed the sheets. Meant that one of us can tack the boat alone.

Oh and I got a new phone too... having drowned two phones I decided to get a waterproof and shockproof one with some money I had been given for my birthday. One the right is a photo of the chart plotter giving a more accurate track of where we went (the Spot Locator points are only every 30 mins or so... and only when we remember to press the button).

What I got was a Samsung B2100 from Amazon.co.uk. The reason for that is that it is waterproof to 1 metre and shockproof... a real hardy phone.

I'm pleased with it in all respects except for one... it's a pain to sync with my computer!

Dodger finished

Yesterday evening Tim and I spent an hour finishing off the dodger: Sewing in the clips for the cover for the plastipane. We particularly wanted to cover the plastipane as the Mediterranean sun really destroys it making it somewhat opache over time.

This morning very early (7:30) we went down to fit it. We're really pleased with the result. You can also see the lazy jacks we fitted over the weekend.

Lazy Jacks

The primary task today was to complete the lazy jacks for the main sail. We have been getting tired of trying to flake the sail when we drop it, and with the new bimini it got even more difficult - we had to close the bimini to flake the sail. OK, maybe it is lazy, but we believe the easy way is often the safer way.

So we went down at about 8:30 and I went up the main mast to fit two cheek blocks for the lines for the lazy jacks. The mast is aluminium, but even still drilling through and pop riveting the cheek blocks in place was hard work. I did a bit of drilling and took a pause and did a bit more and took a pause. Suddenly I realised why I needed to take pauses... each time I drilled I was holding my breath! You can only hold your breath so many times before you need a pause. Funny things we do when concentrating!

Anyway by mid-afternoon the lazy jack system was in place. The ropes are knotted rather than whipped at this stage. We had time for whipping the ends, but decided we would sail tomorrow and check that all the lengths are correct before whipping them.

Then we went back to Tim's flat and did some more sewing on the dodger. We managed to get the velcro edges round the window. That was a task and a half. We had fitted the plastipane window already and folded back the edge and used basting tape to hold in place and then more basting tape to hold the velcro in place... that makes 2 layers of Sunbrella, 2 layers of basting tape, 1 layer of plastipane and one layer of velco to sew through!

The dodger is now heavy and unwieldy, so there was me and Erika holding and guiding the dodger and Tim winding the handle of the sewing machine.  Dodger is not quite complete, but is another stage further on!

Playing boats?

5 nautical miles

Mobile phone rings at lunchtime...

'Are you playing boats this afternoon?'

It's Neil, a sailing friend who used to live here and now lives in the UK.

Our plan had been to do some work on the boat, maybe work on the lazy jacks... but... as we were walking along the quay to the mooring we realised the wind was perfect for a sail. So, changed plans immediately.

We only had a couple of hours before we would lose light so we quickly prepped the boat and were off. It was a lovely way to blow the cobwebs out after a weeks work.

As we were heading back and just getting ready for the marina, Neil's mobile rang... It was Paula, his wife... 'Can't speak now, we're just preparing to dock...' Now he'd already admitted that if we did sail while he was over here the rest of his family might turn green with envy, so what a time to call!

Great sail.

Making template for dodger

1 nautical miles

Two things for today - since we really did have no wind today - firstly to make the dodger template and secondly to try and find out how to steer King Malu backwards.

Coming out from the berth she swung clockwise again (if it were anti-clockwise this would not be such a problem in our current berth, but clockwise means we have to do a three point turn to get out). When we were in the anchoring area we tried reversing with rudder straight ahead and at other angles of steering. Whatever we did she turned clockwise. Our best idea about this is that the linkage on the outboard is slightly bent and the outboard not completely straight on to the boat. Another day we'll play with that.

We then made the template for the dodger. It will be more of a windscreen than a dodger, but will be helpful for night sailing and for inclement weather and protecting the instruments.

Gentle day sail

16 nautical miles

Watching the forecast we were not at all sure what the day would bring - gentle winds or none at all. If none at all then we would motor round to the anchoring area, swim and make the dodger template and do a few other jobs on the boat. As it was we had gentle wind of a steady 8-12 knots and we had a really nice sail out towards Cape Pila and back.

Ont thing that is puzzling is the reversing. Every time I reverse King Malu she swings clockwise. This time we found we had the boarding ladder down which was creating a drag and so that swung us round.

We put up the repaired genoa from the rips last weekend. Amongst other things we had tightened the leech rope and that meant the sail set better. Interesting these little things we are learning as we go.

Day sail, mizzen and genoa

10 nautical miles

We decided to go out for a day sail. Had to be back earlier as the clocks went back last night so dusk comes even earlier now. The forecast for was a constant Bft 3 gusting Bft 4 throughout the day. Tim said yesterday 'If it's dead calm we'll motor round to the other side of the harbour, drop a dinghy anchor attached to a buoy and do some reversing practice'. Absolutely no chance of that today!

Reversing out the yacht again turned the wrong way, but we managed a neat three point turn and motored out of the marina.  I was really confused. Last time the boat turned the wrong way it was because we were trailing a warp by accident (a crew member didn't realise there are springs on both sides of the boat). But this time there were no warps. We think it is because the outboard we have is not directly in line with the yacht and may be pulling to one side very slightly.

Anyway we thought with a bit more wind we would try other sail plans, so to start with we tried sailing with just the genoa. She did a respectable 3.5 to 4 knots in 11-18 knots wind (gusting 18) and was sailing quite flat. As Tim remarked, sailing flat will be good for non-sailors as guests on board or anyone feeling slightly seasick.

The cloud formations were really beautiful today. There were a couple of other yachts out from our marina. One sailing with just main and no genoa - also sailing pretty flat - and one with three-quarters genoa and main, which was heeling over somewhat.

Next we tried the mizzen with the genoa. Tim thought that it might give us a weather helm, but I was hopeful since I had seen this recommended online somewhere. In fact she sailed with less helm with the mizzen than without. Watching the movement on the autopilot is a good way to gauge the weather or lee helm on the trim of the boat.

Looking up at the genoa to check the set of the sail we noticed a problem. The seem along the leech of the sail was ripping with the strong gusts of wind. By the time we got back to the marina, three sections of the sail would need repair. A job for our new found sewing skills.

Two days ago on Facebook I did the 'Which Lord of the Rings character are you?' I came up as Elrond, which started off 'You are supremely confident about yourself...' No, not me, I worry I might be wrong a lot of the time and it goes on '...rightfully so, for you are rarely wrong'. Well in docking I wish I had trusted my judgement.

With the wind blowing 18 knots we came in to berth in the marina. We had planned what would happen, since the wind was north easterly I would come in and then hold the bow off the dock while time secured the stern line. We were both concerned about blowing into other boats as the berths are very narrow and can close up.

We kept the genoa up till the very last minute, since with the outboard, with a following sea it can cavitate quite badly.

Coming in Tim was for'ard watching and shouted 'More starboard helm'. I was sure I didn't need it, but trusted he was seeing something I could not. This meant that I came round more than I wanted and just as we are going into the gap come to a grinding halt. We're caught. Because of the extra turn a neighbour's mooring line has caught under the rudder. Peter from one of the other boats comes to help and we secure ourselves with extra lines to our two neighbours. We're just discussing what to do when Tim takes off his top and jumps in the water. He stands on the mooring line, which frees us from it and we can be pulled into the dock. Peter said he does everything he can to avoid going in the water - especially in the marina.

Later Tim remarks how we are complementary to each other - I am comfortable going up masts and he is comfortable jumping in the water. True, I would rather go up masts than sort out stuff under the water... unless it was the only solution of course.

When we have secure the boat, we scrub the decks and clean up inside.

Quick photo to show where we have been and off home. The southerly track was from Thursday, today's was south easterly. It was very clear today. from the furthest out we got you could easily see Cape Greco as well as Cape Pila. Normally the haze is such that you cannot see Cape Greco till you are past Cape Pila.

Solar cells and steaming lights

Another maintenance day.

The target today to at least get the solar cells finished and working. We had a solar charger unit, which as a pain as it is positive earth and the rest of the yacht is negative earth, which means... we have to ensure that it is isolated from other equipment in the yacht.

On the output of the solar charger we fitted a shunt to measure the amount of current coming from the solar cells and a two way switch so we can either charge the navigation battery bank or the domestic battery bank.

Then it's time to go up the main mast to fix the steaming light. The old steaming light looks like a frosted glass fitting... it isn't of course, it's just the plastic has become frosted over with age. A perennial problem with plastic lenses on navigation lights. Actually, its good it's not actually perennial as it would prove expensive if it were!

When we were fitting the wind gauge at the top of the main mast I dropped a tracer line down the mast and Tim caught it within seconds. It wasn't quite so easy this time. Partly this was because the hole for the steaming light wire was at the front of the mast and so the line was dropping down the edge of the mast, whereas it was dead centre for the wind gauge.

One of the better investments we made was a treble clip safety line from mailspeedmarine.com.  I had been suggesting an elasticated safety line as they are easier to handle on a bouncing deck, but Tim suggested the treble hook one. This has proved invaluable in mast work. It means that once I am in location I can clip on - both as an added safety line should there be a problem with the main line up the mast and also to hold me to the mast and as a result I can brace against the mast. You can see it clearly in this photo and see how I use it to brace away from the mast in the next one.

When the steaming light was fitted I wanted to test it before proceeding, but we were beginning to lose light so Tim wanted to do all the mast work before dusk.

The final job was the two flag halyards. Strangely it looks lighter because the clouds have parted and we have blue sky, but the light is actually fading.  In some ways this was the most difficult thing I have done on the mast to date as I needed to fix a shackle with a block to an eye far out on the spreader.

Leaning out by pushing against the mast was the answer, but being gently rocked around while trying to threat the tiny shackle and not dropping anything was... interesting!

Down the mast... test steaming light... Everything worked and it was time for home.

Ochi Day sail

16 nautical miles

This would have been the start of a four day sail round to Latchi, but for the fact that tomorrow the forecast is for the sort of winds you sail through if you have to but avoid if you don't!

The crew today was me, Tim, Sidney, Mark and Jacob.

This was Mark's first sail with us. He had valiantly helped re-surfacing the deck when we were on the hard, but had not the opportunity for a sail yet.

The weather today was kind to us and so Mark enjoyed the sun on the forepeak, using the inflatable dinghy as a backrest.

We set off early to get a smooth sea as we wanted to re-calibrate the auto-pilot. We had found a dinghy anchor next door to the compass which we hadn't known about and so it was throwing the alignment out.

The calibration first involved two wide and slow circles, then running straight at more than 4 knots and aligning to the GPS and finally allowing the autopilot to learn the characteristics of the rudder.

The autopilot was significantly more responsive now and held course very much better. Just shows how important it is to ensure there is no metallic material near the compass.

Tim had brought some haloumi. Having the ability to grill haloumi in the middle of the day just adds that finishing touch to a wonderful day sailing.

The wind was light - really gentle sailing weather.

It was a day of firsts - we allowed Jacob to try his hand at helming too. The first time Tim had met Jacob he was helming my Wayfarer and he had noted how well he handled the helm.

Today he was to try his hand at a very much bigger boat.

Everything is much more sluggish and feels unresponsive compared to a dinghy, but he soon got the hang of it and you can tell from the smile on his face how he enjoyed it.

Sidney looked perpetually cool in his shades, black baseball cap and black T-shirt!

Although the sun was not as bright as it has been, the reflected light off the water makes it seem brighter than it is.

We headed off down towards Cape Kiti and we checked our position using compass and chart. The new binoculars with build in compass make it much easier for taking bearings.

Actually it was a fun sail. I think all of us enjoyed it.

All in a mornings work... fixing a mizzen topping lift

Just a simple job, cut off the topping lift from the mizzen mast and drop a new one in... so we thought. Dropping a wind gauge cable had been a doddle, why shouldn't putting in a new topping lift be easy?

Up the mizzen mast I went, snapped on my safety line and cut the old (stuck) topping lift which dropped gracefully to the deck. Then with a screwdriver pushed away the old topping lift into the mast ready for a tracer line to drop in the mast and pick up a new 8mm line. But... the old topping lift didn't clear the block fully whatever I did. The tracer would not fall inside and... tended (about 5 times or more) to come out of the sail track.

Eventually I gave up and fixed a new external block to the outside of the mast for the topping lift! Will fix properly when we drop the mizzen mast.

Next... fix the clip on the end of the starboard mizzen spreader. Lowered away till I was at the right height, added extra safety line and pushed out from the mast to reach the spreader... hoisted drill and started drilling out the old pop rivet. Tried to steady myself from swinging around since I am pushing out from the mast... kept drilling... drill bit broke. New drill bit, drilled hole, fixed new pop rivet in place.

Then added two extra lines from the spreaders to hold the two new solar panels. Finally down on the deck and time for a snack of haloumi cheese sandwiches. Then fix the solar panels in place... couple of other odd jobs and home for lunch. Late. Ooops.

First time with the bimini

11 Nautical Miles

We went down to the marina early to fit the new bimini and ready the boat for the sail today. The forecast said light winds in the morning, heavier in the afternoon (Bft 3) dying down again later.

When I reversed out of our mooring I had the helm over to starboard, but the boat pulled to port. Very strange. I then had to do a 270 degree multi-point turn to get the right direction to exit the marina. Then someone noticed we were trailing one of the spring lines from the port side. Pull it in and suddenly the helm is responsive again.

Light meant non-existant! So we motored round to the other side of the harbour for coffee and a swim.

Tim cleaned the barnacles off the outboard. The encrustations were getting heavy so we need to find some solution. For next year we can paint the part in the water with anti-fouling, but for now we need to keep cleaning and cleaning and cleaning...

We're not happy that we cannot lift the outboard and we may try to find a solution to that. Tim tried lifting the motor and only succeeded in bending the rod keeping it in line with the boat.

Most of the photos from the day are useless sadly as the camera got stuck in macro mode. However, we were really, really pleased with the bimini, it gives a significant amount of shade and really makes sailing a lot easier.

Yes, that's petrol in the cans at the stern of the yacht. We don't want petrol inside the hull, and we really need to make a petrol locker sometime... hopefully by the end of next season we will have a reliable inboard, so it won't be so necessary. Watch this space!

After about a hour the wind came up to 5 knots so we sailed out towards Cape Pila. Then it rose to 10-11 knots and we were sailing beautifully. Tim made lunch and we, that is me, Tim, Sidney, Maria and Melvyn enjoyed a tuna sandwich.

The autopilot was misbehaving again, didn't hold the course we expected and to get it to hold course to wind we had to set it then click the +10 degrees button, then it did hold course to wind perfectly. Also had to increase the sensitivity of the drive.

Then the wind picked up some more... 16 knots gusting 19 knots. and dying down so the gusts were quite significant. We were slightly concerned that if it picked up more and we had to wait till 19:00 or 20:00 for calmer weather we would be rentering the marina at night. Not something we want to do yet.

So we reluctantly turned for home.

We don't have lazy jacks on the booms yet, so we had to unzip the bimini to drop the main sail. It all worked perfectly. Not neat, but worked.

Then we motored into the marina and moored. Peter was on the quayside to take the lines. This was the first time that I did a perfect mooring... practice makes perfect. We need many more of these to build up experience.

Then a coffee. We have a wonderful device for making coffee, sort of like an espresso but not quite. Sitting under the bimini sipping really good coffee... this is the life!

Bimini finished

Yes at last the bimini is finished and we will fit it this Saturday. This evening we sewed the final pieces of tape along the sides and did the final trimming and finishing. We still have tapes to make, but we will use cord/line on Saturday to work out the best placement and then make tapes to fit.

Sewing... sewing... sewing... a bimini

Seems we're always sewing these days. We started making a bimini with a kit from Sailrite two weekends ago and thought we'd get it completed in a weekend. Wrong!

Tim has converted his sun room into a 'sail loft'. Since its a penthouse apartment, it really is a 'loft'!

At the far end of the room we have a work surface that he found as someone was throwing it out and with the addition of five 2 euro Ikea legs we now have a very good working area for the sewing.

Before you sew though you have to cut out the Sunbrella, which we do with a hot knife. Hence the MDF on the floor to protect the tiles.  Well... when I say hot knife I mean soldering iron to use as a hot knife.

A real hot knife costs about a couple of hundred dollars, so we found a high temperature soldering iron and find that works quite as well.

We created Sunbrella tubes with zips along them to hold the Bimini onto the frame. Fitting long zips to these thin tubes proves easier than I expected. It was about the only thing that was easier than expected.

The sewing machine was inherrited with the yacht and is about as old as the yacht (more than 35 years). Solid as a rock. When we first used it we broke about 5 needles so we took it to the Singer shop in Larnaca and got it serviced. Net result was that we haven't broken one needle on the whole project!

You need two or three people for this. The electric drive for the sewing machine is dead so Tim acts as the drive motor, holding everything steady while I feed into the foot.

In order to feed some of it through you have to roll up one side. That we found was a three person job.

To start with we let gravity pull the material through while I guided. This resulted in very uneven stitches, and having a third person take the weight of the cloth improved things no end.

We had hoped to finish by the end of the day, but we made a mistake sewing one panel in the wrong way round and had to unpick and start again. We lost about an hour and a half over that.

However, by the end of the day we did have all the panels together and took it down to the boat to measure for the final zip placement.

We really want to have as much shade as possible, so we have made what amounts to a four bow bimini, or you could consider it two two bow biminis joined together in the middle. Our original design had been for a king dodger joined to a two bow bimini, but we like the air flow because of the Mediterranean heat, so have reduced the dodger for inclement weather and increased the bimini.

The photo shows it in place with safety pins holding the final zip.

Starting the bimini

The one thing we found when we did the two day sail was the problem of being under the sun all day. Back in the spring we had bought a bimini and dodger kit from Sailrite and so this weekend (a long weekend including Friday which is a public holiday) we decided to start it. My expectation was that we could get the metalwork done on Friday morning, the templates done on Friday afternoon and get the sewing done on Saturday/Sunday. How wrong I would be!

On Friday we started the metal work... well... we worked out what we wanted to do, which was to modify the original plan from Sailrite to try to make a significantly bigger bimini. The original plan was for a 2 bow bimini and a very large 2 bow dodger and to join the two together. However, the 2 day sail had shown that sailing in the Mediterranean you really want all the wind you can get to cool you down except for rare occasions when you need some protection.

So we modified the plan to become a very large double 2 bow bimini with a much smaller dodger. This was possible because we had the old bow from the old dodger to be part of the new kit.

Having done the planning we then worked out the metalwork, cut and fixed in place. That was a whole days work and we ended up Friday evening with the metalwork in place but nothing more. Tim remarked that his uncle used to say projects take twice and long and cost twice as much as you expect.

Saturday the whole day was taken up with making the templates... and making a work space in Tim's sunroom for sewing and other boat related work over the winter.

Sunday we started the sewing. By the evening we had got the first of three panels completed. Hopefully it will go quicker as we become more competent with the sewing machine and cutting out the material etc. Our final job for the weekend was to take the completed panel down and check it on the boat.

Yes, looks good... now just to complete it.

Barnacles and autopilots

18 nautical miles

This was a gentle sail with just Tim and me sailing King Malu. It was good to see we could handle her easily with just the two of us. In the past we had a minimum crew of three.

Before heading out we went down to sea Costas as Raymarine. We wanted a 100 amp breaker for the winch motor. Cost 120 EUR and was made in Losotho. Surprised Tim to find that out and didn't exactly impress him. Tim lived in South Africa for many years and his reaction was that most people in Lesotho came to South Africa to work and he didn't know there was much industry in that country at all!

One of the other things we wanted to talk about was the way the autopilot didn't hold course to wind very well. He thought it could be a problem with the wind sensor not sending the right data to the autopilot. He gave us some tips and with those we got the autopilot to work very well. In particular I think it was not having a high enough sensitivity to respond to the wind in the very light airs we have in Larnaca Bay. The run back was about 120 degrees to the wind and the autopilot held it beautifully.

We finally moored just to the north of the port so we could try the winch again. Then Tim put on goggles, grabbed the waterproof camera and dived under the boat to see what growth we might have on her.

There is a significant growth of barnacles on the propellor - although they are all very small.

The hull in general is clean of growth except for this patch at the stern under the nape of the keel.

My guess is that there was growth like this all round below the waterline and that sailing her two weekends in a row has washed off most of it except in this place where the water turbulence is low and so the antifouling hasn't washed it away.

Along the waterline there are also very small amounts of growth. But considering she was just sitting there for six to nine months while we were struggling with motor problems its pretty minor really.

Weekend sail to Fig Tree Bay

Approx 60 nautical miles

This was to be out first weekend sail, leaving early Saturday morning and returning Sunday evening. I have prepared a passage plan, which meant we should leave by 09:30 to arrive by 16:30 and allow a couple of hours leaway in case of problems before we began to lose light.

This meant we needed to start around 07:30 to prepare the boat. There were two small jobs to do: Fix some extra marine ply on the outboard mount for the dinghy and fix the stern light on the stern! Surprisingly both jobs went perfectly and we left only about 10 minutes late.

The wind predictions were for light airs in the morning with stronger in the afternoon, with a repeat for Sunday. In fact the light airs on Sunday were almost non-existant.

By 10:40 we were sailing close hauled towards Cape Pila.

By 11:44 the wind was 7.7 knots and Tim and Sidney decided on a little fishing.

This was the first time the tackle had come out and there was some discussion about lures and rig. Never having fished I had no idea.

An hour later we were at Cape Pila - almost exactly on schedule and changed the waypoint to Cape Greco.

This was the start of the voyage proper. We had sailed the Wayfarer round Cape Pila but never to Cape Greco as it was too far for a day sail.

Tim and Sidney had caught no fish.

We started the generator to recharge the batteries and keep the freezer cold.

Yipes... when I open the sail locker there are exhaust fumes pouring out. It turns out that because we were on starboard tack, both the generator exhaust and the old engine exhaust were under water. The old engine exhaust was not fully closed and the exhaust gases were coming out of the generator and bubbling back into the engine exhaust!

At 15:00 we passed Cape Greco and turned into a dead run, then jibed in towards Konos Bay.

By 16:15 we were close to Fig Tree Bay so we started the motor and looked around the bay, decided that all night disco was not our scene so went the other side of the promontory to Panayia.

This was a beautiful bay with a couple of small sailing boats and a gullet moored. There was a someone snorkeling in the middle of the bay and an almost deserted and minute beach.

The sea bed was rock but we dropped anchor hoping to catch in a rock crevice. We watched the shoreline carefully and realised the anchor had not held and was dragging. So we moved out to the mouth of the bay where there was sand and the anchor held.

Anchoring is an art we need more practice at.

A catamaran came in with a wedding party dance on board. I must say I have never seen a wedding party in swim suits and bikinis before. Imagine the bride... yes she had a white net skirt... but a white bikini on her top.

Then later a second catamaran arrived, both of which moored alongside the gullet.

We hoisted our anchor light and I prepared dinner and we sat on deck as the sun set over the hills behind the bay.

The fear of dragging anchor woke me three times during the night with the sound of the anchor dragging... I would leap off the bunk and stick my head out of the hatch only to find I was disoriented because the boat had changed by 120 degrees and the shore was no longer where I expected it.

Each time it wasn't dragging and it was just the chain dragging across the rocky sea bed vibrating up the chain to the locker in my cabin resounding like a drum, each time the noise concerned me.

The following day we managed to get the Spot Satellite Messenger working better so below is the map of our route back. It didn't work quite correctly, as it should have plotted out in real time on the map at the top of the page. Oh well... next time.

As the sun rose over the sea we all woke and made espresso. Freshly brewed coffee to wake you up... nothing like it!

Then I found out that I had not been the only one up during the night: Tim woke and went on deck thinking he heard people climbing on board to try to steal our dinghy!

It was only the ropes chattering against the mast.

Looking round the bay we saw the catamarans from the night before and then brought up the anchor and motored northwards for a look at the coast.

Would have been trouble free except the windlass wiring got hot and the windlass stopped working so we had to pull the final 5 metres of chain up by hand.

There was absolutely no wind.

When we got a couple of knots of wind we raised every square inch of sail we could: Asymetric Spinnaker, Mainsail, Mizzen and Mizzen Staysail... and we got... 0.9 knots!

We tried the spinnaker pole and decided that our asymmetric didn't need anything as heavy as that and that pole would be a hindrance rather than a help with the sail. We did at least try it.

No wind meant... time for motor sailing. By 11:00 we were still motor sailing. Wind was up to 5.3 knots. Big deal! 

We tried turning the engine off and the navigation computer calculated it would take 20 hours to be back in Larnaca Marina!

By now we are just north east of Cape Greco again on our way home.

By 12:56 the wind is now 5.4 knots and we are south of Agia Napa, still motor sailing.

Just before 14:00 the wind was nearly 6 knots and we decided to try the Mizzen Stay Sail again. Instead of following instructions that we had read on the Internet we decided on following sailing intuition.

This time with some trial and error we set it beautifully and got an extra knot of speed out of the boat. 

It felt really good and enjoyable sailing across Larnaca bay with all sails set. Somehow a ketch with all sails set is an inspiring sight to a sailor.

Tim decided lying in the shade along the deck looking up at the rig... admiring the sails was the place to be.

I sat for a while on the shady side dangling my feet over the side. We were not heeling enough to cool them in the water though. But the shade with the wind was good and made us realise we need to get the bimini and spray hood finished to give us some shade.

Now with all this it must be time to catch some fish to take home for dinner? 

Sadly no luck today. It was a good job we were not depending on fish for supper!

We arrived back in Larnaca Marina between 16:30 and 17:00... almost on time again.

We took a first load back to the car... a quick beer and then we tidied and cleaned the boat and left for home.

Definitely the best weekend for a long time.

Sea trials for the Outboard

15 Nautical Miles

Today was sea trial for the new Honda outboard we fitted yesterday. The plan was to motor round to the other side of the harbour, drop anchor (to test anchor system). Weigh anchor and sail, testing the autopilot and the mizzen sail, check hove to... and return before 3pm... and... have a good time.

The new Honda started flawlessly, and took us out of the berth easily, and then the boat skewed strangely... we found that the trop line from the mooring line had en-cycled the outboard shaft (not the prop-shaft fortunately). Once free King Malu responded happily and we motored round.

It was beautiful dropping anchor in crystal clear water and seeing the anchor chain dropped across the sea floor. We do need some markers for the anchor chain to work out exactly how much we have payed out. Tim, Jacob and Mick went for a swim and then we tided the boat and set sail.

Working out which tankers were at anchor proved interesting. Sometimes even with binoculars it was difficult to see the anchor chains and impossible to see the black ball from the for'ard mast. I think AIS is a 'must have' in busy waterways.

The autopilot did its thing correctly, very smoothly but at times didn't hold course to wind as well as I would have liked.

Early on I was unhappy that it could hold a better course than I could manual steering, but this wasn't always the case and at other times I was slightly frustrated with the way it held course and I could hold the course better.

Part of today was learning more of the new boat handling - we put up the mizzen sail and we wondered if some of the handling differences are due to the mizzen sail.

The mizzen has a very big roach and setting this sail was not quite as easy as I think we expected.

After we had passed one of the tankers we went into the wind to try to furl the main sail. We quickly learnt that it's tonnes easier doing this with the motor running and you you are moving through the water.

'3 degrees to port Mr Helmsman...' On the way back to port Jacob had a go at helming this much bigger yacht than the 16 foot Wayfarer he normally sails with me.

Mick asked, 'So are you both happy with the new motor?'

'I'll tell you when we are in the marina...'

The wind was gusting about 20 knots but the Honda allowed us about 2 knots into the wind at about 2/3 throttle and 5 knots when we turned.

We were deliberately not pushing the engine as its new. The wind was much higher coming into the marina than we have done before, but the outboard performed beautifully with reverse thrust to slow us to a stop without touching the quay.

Walking back to the car along the quay Tim said, 'In answer to your question... 99.9%'

All in all we are both very pleased with the new motor... this is the third motor we have worked on to try to get King Malu sailing... had the first one worked we would be where we are today but six months ago.

Fitting the new Honda Outboard

Hearing all the horror stories of engines we had always anticipated having a backup motor. We had talked about a medium sized outboard. We didn't expect the Ford diesel to fail, nor the electric drive to have problems... so our backup plan was advanced to get the outboard as a primary drive till we get the electric drive fixed. We chatted to Dave at mailspeedmarine.com and after discussion he recommended the Honda BF20. We've used mailspeedmarine.com before and always found that their worldwide shipping is both economic and efficient.

The Honda 20hp came in a package about 85 kg. Not light, but not impossible either.

We borrowed Ken's stair-walking trolley to bring it to King Malu. Ken joined us for the exercise.

We have high hopes that this time we will be successful with the motor.

The stair walking trolley proved invaluable as we had to take the motor up over a sea wall to get to our quay.

Lowering it down we attached a couple of ropes to stop runaway motor syndrome.

Then it was just a push around to King Malu.

'Oh my goodness...' we have to get it onto the deck and we are moored bow to. We cannot change around as we don't have a motor!

Both Tim and I had plans to do this. We both were keen not to damage the new motor or the treadmaster on the deck.

Suddenly someone suggests removing the safety lines from the starboard side to make it vastly less distance we have to lift and control the motor.

That proves to be a master stroke and makes it radically easier.

We use a halyard attached to the motor to take the weight and two people guiding to move it gently to the stern.  Another halyard off the mizzen mast to lower it on to the plate that we have fitted.

Sounds easy?

In some ways it was easy, but a lot of very tiring work.

We then had to wire and fix the motor. The extension was too short so I had to extend the extension. We meant 20 wire splices.

By the end of the day we fired up the motor and... it worked. That was so encouraging. Though we were exhausted, it was that kind of nice tiredness that you get from a job well done and successful.