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.