The fleet prepares for the passsage to Goes
51° 45.555N 003° 51.564E
This morning we rang round some Volvo Penta dealers in the hope of getting someone to come and look at Rosie’s engine but to no avail, so they have ventured back to Delta Marina, where there is a Volvo service centre in the hope that they can get it sorted there and catch up with us later.
The winds continue to howl and we are on standby, hoping to leave tomorrow. This morning I was accosted by some Dutch ladies in the shower block who asked, “What time are you leaving?” Apparently all the other boats want to time their departure around us to ensure they are not trying to go through the locks at the same time as our entire fleet. I can’t see what they’re worried about.
Neale has been working for most of the day with Steve from Smitten and Ron from Ironic to replace Smitten’s exhaust hose, which has become porous.
Claire, Elissa and I had a girl’s outing in the RIB across the channel to collect some replacement hose and got a jolly good soaking, as it was quite choppy. Apart from the piercing stabbing sensation as the water slapped us across the face it was actually really good fun and Claire certainly proved her prowess behind the helm, skillfully negotiating the waves.
The plan is for the first boats to start slipping their lines at about 8am, so hopefully we will reach Goes by mid afternoon. Fingers crossed.
Caption: Neale, Steve and Ron from Ironic try to get to the bottom of Smitten’s problems.
