Noon position: 39 09.5 S 146 07.0 E
Course: SSE Speed: 5.5 knots
Wind: ESE, F4 moderate breeze
Sea: slight Swell: SW 2 m
Weather: sunny, mild
Day's run: 85 nm

We continued to make good progress overnight until around 0500 when the wind started to fade just as we were approaching Wilsons Promontory. There were a number of ships coming in and out of the traffic separation scheme to the south of the Promontory and we had to tack off at one point to avoid getting caught up in between two ships in a close quarters situation. As the wind faded I tried setting the code zero to see if it would provide enough power to keep Sylph moving but a choppy sea and short swell caused Sylph to roll and the sails to slat against the rig. So, at 0530 I decided to motor for a while at modest revs.

All was going well until 0705 when the engine alternator alarm started to sound intermittently. I opened up the engine box and was surprised to see that water pump pulley had come adrift from the water pump, which meant the drive belt was slipping. Indeed, it was even more suprising that the belt had not come off the crankshaft and alternator pulleys as well. I shut down the engine, found the miscreant pulley and bolted it back in place with the addition of some locktite paste to hopefully ensure the four bolts would not all come undone again.

By this time the sea was glassy, albeit a very lumpy piece of glass, so I resorted to the motor once more. But it seemed the BRM was trying to give me a hint because less than an hour later the engine briefly sputtered and died in exactly the same way as it had done when the injection pump springs had broken a couple of days ago. Bother!

I tried sailing for a while but there just wasn't enough breeze to get Sylph moving in the lumpy seas. Seeing as we were not going anywhere and that I had one more spare spring in my spare parts box, I thought I might as well try to fix the engine again. This time I knew exactly what I was doing and at 1150, after less than two hours in my grease monkey rig, I had the engine running again. Fortunately there was only one broken spring this time and now that I am all out of spare springs I will have to use the engine only when essential and have a contingency plan in place in case it stops at a critical moment, such as trying to come alongside a marina berth or the like. As well as getting a new injection pump I will have to order some new springs so I can repair this original pump.

Just as I had the engine running again I was pleased to see that a breeze had filled in from the east - a headwind but at least we could get sailing again.

The forecast is for light to moderate headwinds until late Tuesday when the wind is expected to back into the NW, which will make for a beam reach along the Victorian coast towards Gabo Island. At this stage I am still hopeful of arriving off Twofold Bay late Thursday or sometime Friday. Once off this potential sanctuary my plan remains to assess the weather and decide whether to shelter or press on.

All is well.