We got up and the boys did their workout with Orson while Melissa fixed egg cups for breakfast.
We decided to stay on the dock while the guys diagnosed the auto pilot failure. Jim found that the motor had come loose from the hydraulic controls. The screws were sitting on the floor of the locker. Entirely unclear why the screws had come out. It makes one wonder if someone had worked on it and not properly completed the work. Alas, nothing to be done for it now. Additionally, they found a leak in the hydraulic lines, probably because of the loose motor. That’s a problem because it could disable the steerage all together. There is a valve that we can turn off to stop the leak because its on the autopilot side of the system to protect the main steerage. Dave then bought some hydraulic fluid at the fuel dock before we left. Though we still can’t locate the reservoir where you refill it.
After we departed for Lagoon Cove, Dave practiced steering using only engines to ensure if the steering failed altogether we would be ok.
We were underway about 5 hours to Lagoon Cove. We’ve not been here for 10 years – almost to the day. http://svapsaras.com/entries/alaksa-ho/lagoon-cove. A cute place; Dave booked us for two nights. We made it just in time for happy hour. A nightly tradition here, they pull in shrimp to feed all the boaters, and everyone brings a dish. Melissa had made a French country pate. And we lucked out. There were two boaters with guitars and harmonica who played us a concert. The one on the right had a harmonica and flute and played blues. They had never met, yet despite this managed this: