Pete’s birthday today – Happy birthday, Pete. First night at sea – not too bad, tho’ we didn’t really get a great deal of sleep, this looks like being a tiring trip. I got up at 6, to find Val at the wheel – she’d been up since 4. After a while I took over, + then encountered our second problem, when the engine cut out on us. Dave got the covers off, + checked the fuel supply, since that is what seemed to be the problem. And so it proved, with a very badly clogged fuel filter, which Dave replaced. It held us up for about 2 hours tho’, during which time all we could do was drift, more or less, the rudder being virtually useless. Still, back on course once again by about 10. Monika stayed below for the vast majority of the day, still feeling pretty ill – a combination of sea-sickness + her period. We encountered some bad weather, but that cleared up later in the afternoon, + I was able to sunbathe while at the helm. I’ve promised myself to learn a knot a day, and started today with the bow-line – there; that’s interesting isn’t it. Monika cooked us steak for the evening meal (tho’ I must say, I’ve got rather bored with steak – we’ve had something of a surfeit just recently. Val took the wheel for a while while I ate, + after, + then I took it back till about 8.30, by which time I was shattered, + so hit the sack, when Val took over again till about 11.30. I must say we seem to do more than our fair share of time at the helm. I know Monika has been unwell, but Dave is rarely at the wheel at all. Yet he doesn’t get much sleep – he just tinkers around, or just chats, or takes cat-naps out in the cockpit. Talking of cats, they’ve both been very good really, far better than I thought they would be. Anyway, enough for the day.
First hints of a bit of.. well, friction is too big a word, but suggestions of unfairness can easily fester, and the haphazard way that watch is being allocated – more or less randomly, so it would seem – can lead to such things. Still, apart from the trouble with the engine, all continues to be well.
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