A limited maintenance test flight 11 Feb 20

Sunday February 9th Pat and Celine of SV Voila joined us in Hiva Oa. They'll be aboard until something like the end of March, or until we kill each other, whichever comes first. We've been Mexico sailing pals since 2015, frolicking and fishing in the Sea of Cortez. They sold Voila back in December to make time for other adventures. It's true that boats kind of tie you down in some ways. . .

Anyway, after a couple days of resting up from the long flight and provisioning for the hinterlands, we felt like it was time to go somewhere. Having just done major service on both fossil fuel propulsion systems, I wanted to spin the props for a few hours then give everything a thorough inspection. We're a little boat so one of the bunks has to be the "garage" where we stow excess rations, kite boarding gear, ditch bag, you name it, and with Pat and Celine occupying the starboard ensuite queen berth forward that meant that the aft ¾ berth would be piled high with stuff. Well, that's where the starboard engine lives.

We motor in to Hanatefau Bay and try to anchor properly. While it's true that some cruisers don't seem to have our same sense of "personal space" we try really hard to have 150 feet or more spacing between us and other boats. Between rocky bottom close to shore, nutty winds moving boats in all directions and the generally crowded conditions we finally admitted defeat and moved on to Vaitahu Bay, the anchorage by the larger village. There we set the hook with lots of swinging room and in a flash Pat donned his mask/fins/snorkel and hit the water to inspect the anchor set. Firmly buried in a lovely sandy bottom - we'll sleep well tonight!

The village at Tahuatu isn't the best place to moor a dinghy at the local concrete key as there's a lot of surge and ample opportunity for dinghy damage or destruction. I elect to deliver Pat, Celine and Isabel ashore for a walk about, then return to JollyDogs to play Mr. Goodwrench. Catching up on my favorite Market Foolery podcasts, after about 20 minutes of moving stuff the back bunk is dismantled and the starboard engine compartment revealed. No oil leaks! No water leaks! No foreign objects in the raw water strainer! No debris or water in the fuel filter! Fuel suction pressure looks great! All fluid levels full, at the same level I had left them before the journey! The sail drive oil looks like it just came out of the jug - i.e. no saltwater contamination. Life is good!

Replacing everything with even better organization, I'm satisfied we can motor for quite a few hours without having to repeat this procedure. Sooner or later I'll get around to installing some closed-circuit TV cameras in there so that I can monitor for leaks. Maybe that's something our next guest Mike can bring in April. You reading this Mike? Hello?

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