In hindsight we timed our jury rig of the port steering system well as the weather continued to build throughout the day and into the night. 30 knots was typical with 9-12ft seas all day long. Downloading forecasts every six hours didn’t do anything bar reinforce the picture that we’d have to wait until today to see things calm down a little.
Unwilling to stress the new join by using the autopilot we continued with balancing the boat on the sails, lashing the wheel and making occasional gentle wheel adjustment when we lost our heading. It worked well.
This morning we woke to ‘calmer’ seas. The winds were down into the mid 20s and the seas down to about 6-9 feet. This was calm enough for me to open the stern locker without fear of broaching and to inspect the handiwork. Things looked as good as they could be but I lashed the assembly a third time to be extra safe. We’re currently running on auto pilot. My initial assessment was that it looked ok but we’ll need frequent inspections throughout today to be sure of this. The accompanying picture is of the lash up before the autopilot testing.
Temperatures have dropped further. The sea temp is now down to 72F with the morning air temperature beneath this. This may not sound to bad but after two years in the tropics it feels frigid.
We currently have 601nm to go to Opua. Yesterday I understated this by 9nm. With the steering issues we have we will not be pushing the boat.
Footnote. On my second inspection 1hr after engaging the autopilot the pin holding the autopilot bearing to the shaft had ground off. This is no doubt due to the lashed shaft not being perfectly vertical and the pressure from the autopilot hydraulics being applied obliquely. It’s back to manual steering for now. I have an alternate plan for lashing the assembly which may overcome this but for now we’re making good progress so I’m not sure if I will tinker any more for now.
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