For the last months we have been having great difficulty in getting our propellers to go into reverse. And when they do go in reverse they get stuck in reverse. We accidentally backed toward a sea wall even when we were in forward, when we first arrived. Since then we have pretty much been maneuvering with only forward, so things have been a little tricky, especially docking, and un-docking when we got the fuel recently.
I figured it would be neat if we could get reverse going again for the coming trip! First order was to get the props as clean as possible. With Valiant swimming as my helper, Vitality pointing out which jellyfish she needed for her collection, and everyone else doing their school.
Then I had Intrepid start the engines and start shifting them from forward to reverse. Slowly it got easier and easier, and by the time we had done it 30 or so times the props were shifting smoothly! It appears that you need to "exercise" the props to maintain their shifting capabilities!
Well now we have both forward and reverse on both engines!!
Courage
In a couple of days, when the wind is good, we are planning to head south to pick up Shannon and Cassidy. We have checked out of Vavau, got bags and bags of fresh pineapple, ice cream, hot dogs, vegetables, and even a mango! We are ready!
The first hop is about 60 miles and we will overnight that so that we arrive during daylight when we arrive in the Hapai Group. This is a very special group of islands that is very similar to the Toamutos of French Polynesia!
This time we are not planning on hitting any reefs!
More to come -
Courage
