An unusual morning today. To put it into context, allow me to try to describe our sailing conditions, for we have now adopted a sailing rig which has endured unaltered for about 24 hours:
The wind is steady at around 18-25 knots. It's a SE blow, sometimes directly from the east, and we are sailing almost directly west, so the wind is coming from behind us, slightly over our left shoulders. With our main sail on the starboard side, right out, and the headsail on the opposite side (port side, left), we have a 'catch the wind' effect in the sails. It's not the fastest point of sail but pretty good. There are 2 disadvantages: first, you have to have a good helmsman, because if you go off course a bit, everything starts to fall apart. Luckily we have James (the autopilot) who is doing a sterling job (and we are training Aunty Marg, who's not quite their yet, or more precisely, she is but we're not yet!). The second is that the motion of the boat is like corkscrewing through the water, a little roll and a little pitch, mostly in harmony so it's reasonable but occasionally a big wave will knock us off tune, and Laros will pitch, or roll, or pitch and roll off the back of the wave. So we have pitch, and rock and roll, with plenty of drive. Elvis would be pleased.
Now, enter the washing machine. Shall we say 65 kgs in weight? Put into a locker back in 2014 which housed the water heater (25 litre size, so not big) and the back end of the HF radio equipment, something the size of a car CD payer on steroids. It was a tight squeeze to say the least. And, although Johnny did not fit it, he did all the planning work, so luckily knows where everything is and how it goes.
Let's put all this together. The problem (the dodging circuit, from yesterday) is, almost certainly (??), a damp connection at the point of supply to the washing machine and water heater (on the same switch) so that when you switch on, the RCD blows (the thing that registers there's something wrong in the circuit). And, as you know or perhaps have guessed, the connection is underneath the washing machine. So it has to come out of the locker, all 65 kgs of it - in this rock and roll effect. Luckily not at night! So there is J, stripped down to almost nothing with the sun blaring in through the hatch, not even with the consolation of gloves as the locker fit is too tight, ready for the fight. And ........ it couldn't have been easier ..... until the point he realised the washing machine needed to go on the floor, not just resting on the toilet seat. It was too late to wish he had put shoes on, as with one lurch at the wrong time, it could be blood on the carpet and broken toes. And would it fit on the floor anyway? It did, and J did it. The wiring I suppose was the easy bit. Not sure exactly what was wrong - a number of candidates, but easily fixed once the hard grind was over. Oh, did anybody remind J he had to put the whole thing back in again?
As if a bit-part in today's activity, Deb made pau pau chutney and a great cottage pie with peas for supper. It was the most brilliant sunrise of any yet, possibly even the first sunrise we've seen since our departure from the Galapagos, because of cloud. And the sun and the stars were all very welcome in their turn. A great Day 9.
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