Sat jan 4
Last evening at dusk Auto our trusty helms person quit. Yikes. 15+ apparent. Mad scramble to fix whatever was wrong. Reset autopilot switch. Replace the auto pilot ram with the spare. Hand steer the boat. Try to find light switch for compas light if any. Rig up a flashlight to light the compass. Nancy noticed that the cabin lights were dim. Maybe there was a problem that could have affected Auto as well. Yup. That was the problem.
Solar panels were in the shade of the sails because of our course and wind. Batteries were down. Adequate fuel to run an engine for a while. Topping up fuel from Spare fuel tanks can wait until morning. Fired up one engine and ran at idle to produce enough power for Auto and to recharge the batteries.
Solar panels work well but are really depending on adequate direct sunlight
Cassandra Too 