A day of fixing

The engineer came back today with the hydraulic gearbox pump. Not a new one but our one that had been rebuilt with new parts. Everything seems well so far and the plan is for some more sea trials later and to leave in the morning on our voyage. Another point that we noticed last night is that the water maker was not producing as much water as it should be. Having water maker issues before a 3000 mile leg is bad news as running out of fresh water can cause huge problems. This we discovered after a bit of poking around was caused by a faulty start relay on the high pressure pump causing the start capacitor to stay active whilst the pump is running. We have now removed the start capacitor from the circuit and all is fine for now. Bryony is now reprovisioning the boat with fresh produce and we are refuelled and good to go. With any luck my next update will be in two to three weeks time after a successful and relaxing ocean crossing.

Sitting waiting

The latest is that we are sat here waiting for an update on what's going to happen. We know that we need a new gearbox oil pump which has to come from the nearest mainland, Ecuador. We will find out Monday and hopefully get the new pumped shipped and fitted within a couple of days. In the mean time there are worst places to be stranded and my Spanish is improving rapidly.

News

The latest is that the gear box went back in this morning after being completely disassembled, cleaned, new bearings, oil, etc. we had everything running for a while and when all looked to be good we once more upped anchor and then all ok ish, revs begin to build as the gearbox slowly disengages and the engine comes off load. This is able to happen because it is a hydraulic box that applies pressure to a series of friction plates and when the pressure fails the plates disengage. We are still waiting for the mechanic to return after we diagnosed the oil pump to be faulty and hopefully not completely knackered

It's not fantastic

We left......... and then immediately came back. I had lifted the anchor and we were momentarily driving ahead when tosh (our skipper) called to drop the anchor again. Our gearbox problems have progressed past the oil cooler to now effect the gearbox not giving us drive. We've done all of the checks possible but now it is coming out with the help of a short Ecuadorean. Hopefully we will be able to leave soon!

G-laps to marquases

Come tomorrow morning we will be setting sail again in the direction of the marquases. It is going to be approximately 3200 nautical miles to the next stop and depending on the wind we get may take up to three weeks but hopefully a lot less. Chris and Denise have returned to Spain for the Easter holidays so it just the three of us plus one other along for the trip. It has been amazing in the Galapagos but now time for the next adventure

The Galapagos

Proteus has been in the Galapagos for about ten days now after a five day passage from las perlas. The crossing brought us three days of really good wind which propelled us along at a great rate then onto two days of motoring to arrive and be greeted by the sea lions in San cristobal. They are incredibly playful and curious and most mornings are to be found on the bathing platform at the stern of the boat or in people's dinghies if they are left in the water. We even had one in the cockpit of proteus one afternoon.
We have spent four days moving through the islands which is not normally permitted but we had a guide to show us the sights and some fantastic snorkelling including swimming with hammerhead, white tip and black tip sharks, sting rays, sea lions and all manner of different species of fish in 30 degree water. It has been a fantastic experience that has unfortunately concluded in Santa Cruz with more engine problems in the form of a failed engine gearbox oil cooler which is causing water to get into the oil. This would not normally be a problem but these parts are hard to come by here and the closest replacement is in Miami where I may shortly be if the engineers here can't fix ours. This is not great news considering the next leg is in the region of 3200 nautical miles and will almost certainly involve using the engine a lot

San Jose, las perlas

San Jose delivered as per rumour and had a great array of wildlife and a stunningly placed hotel where we landed the tender for lunch. I'll let the pictures explain

More pearl islands

We have been through most of the las perlas now. Yesterday took us sailing past Isla Chapera where the tv series Survivor was filmed, then beyond through some tiny cuts past Isla del rey where we anchored for the night. A trigger fish was caught by tosh on a hand line in the space of about 5 minutes. There are a lot of fish here and pelicans to catch them too! The next morning we left, through out the fishing line and 20 minutes later there was a spotted barracuda biting the end, which was eaten later this evening. We are now anchored by the small village on Isla pedro Gonzales. It is a very basic place with a lot of dogs and chickens roaming the narrow poured concrete streets between very plain and uniform buildings. We will be off again in the morning to anchor off San Jose where there is a rumour of a hotel and restaurant.