On the third day Darcy noticed that the top third of the HF radio antenna was unwinding itself from continuously turning in an anticlockwise circle (darn seas), and was just about to fall off. Great work Darcy. We slowed the boat and lay it down. A strip of duct tape and hey presto. Just like new.
The following day he again noticed a problem…. This time the antenna was lying over on a 45 angle! Again we turned into the wind, stalled the boat and this time the boys made a good job making sure the bolts were done up tight. Luckily the nut was still just sitting on the back step like we were in the marina not a 4mtr sea. That day turned out to be a bit of a disaster. After lunch I was making a cup of tea and the boys were all in the cabin when we heard a crack like thunder. I was the closest to the noise and looked out the window and immediately noticed that the daggerboard had fallen way down through the boat. We all raced out on deck to look over the side to see it snapped in half and hanging uselessly in the water. It was still attached by a rope so there was a danger of it smashing into the side of the hull, so again we turned into the wind. Some quick thinking by Leachy and Duncan soon turned my serrated kitchen knife, the boat hook and some more duct tape into a new tool to cut through the rope. Simple. Now to retrieve it! Luckily it just floated down the side of Catina to the back steps. Easy! Or so we thought… as Duncan and Leachy went to retrieve it we had a surge of swell that crushed Leachy’s hand and sent spikes of fiberglass into Duncan’s fingers. Yeouch! The boys pulled it into the cockpit and while we sat there hove to I played nurse to them both. Darren had a packet of frozen peas wrapped around his hand with a tea towel and after Duncan pulled the fiberglass out with his teeth and we were able to get near him we dressed him too. Soon after Petie appeared rubbing his eyes, slept through the whole thing!
Later that day and we were all looking a little worse for wear. The boys were unshaven but they were still cheerful. We had been running the engines on and off to recharge the batteries. There was some problem with the amount of charge we were getting. Whether the meter was giving a false reading we are not sure. Anyway, Darcy was complaining about a strange smell and I suggested it might just be the toilet. Anyway, Pete and Leachy also smelt it and when Duncan went to investigate he found the Port Engine batteries smoking! This was the closest we have ever been to a complete disaster and a real life emergency. Duncan had said before we left that he was so confident with our boat’s seaworthiness that the only thing we would ever have to abandon ship for was a fire. We were probably only minutes away from that becoming a reality. Duncan and Darren slipped into action mode – turning off the port engine, pulling back mattresses and ventilating the room. There was quite a lot of fumes and no doubt poisonous gas coming from the batteries and how the two of them stayed down there is beyond me but they did what they had to and saved the boat. Pete was reassuring to Darcy and Seisia holding them safely in the cockpit while I did a quick whip around making sure our Grab Bag was in order. I also put together some winter clothes for the kids, some museli bars and water and a teddybear each just in case there was more to come. When Duncan and Darren came back up it was clear to see that they were not well. Darren then had his time in the cockpit and Duncan crashed out to sleep on some cushions on the floor in the main saloon. He slept for 12 hours straight. The fumes and the stress had taken their toll. That night I hardly slept. Pete and Darren and I took the watches. We held our course and slowed the boat down. What we needed right now was for our Captain to recover and have a good night’s sleep. Come daybreak he was feeling better and the boys were able to assess what had happened. We were all a little flat as Duncan and Darren read the Smart Regulator instruction Manual and configured all the wiring, making adjustments and checking all the battery cables.
The last 2 days into Tonga dragged on and on. The wind was on the nose, we were tired and we all needed a rest. It was like “ground hog day” over and over again and I will be first to admit we were all looking forward to the end of this trip. It certainly had been an adventure but not in the way we had imagined.
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