Last night’s weather turned out a lot lousier than the forecast predicted. The winds were in the low twenties, gusting to 30 and the seas were sloppy. I was dead tired when Alana eventually reached Fort Pierce and it was probably as much luck as skill that allowed me to reach the anchorage at 5:45 this morning without grounding. The anchorage is southeast of Causeway Island and the plan is to spend Wednesday night here until some adverse weather blows through, and then sail at 10:00 Thursday at high tide.
After a good hour or two of sleep, I headed out in the dingy to locate some hydraulic fluid for the steering ram. It took a while, but I eventually located a quart, marked at $23, $4 below the actual price, so I saved a few bucks there. The fluid level in the hydraulic ram was indeed low. After topping it off, I have had the system steering a course, using the tidal current over the rudder. It has been doing fine, with none of the “rudder response failure” alarms that plagued me yesterday. I’m not ready to declare victory yet, I’ve been burned by premature “Mission Accomplished” announcements a few times already, but I am optimistic. Why checking the fluid level in the ram is not included in the troubleshooting guide I don’t know, but I’m feeling a little stupid for not having checked it out earlier.
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