Colonia to Puerto Sauce
02/02/10 14:38 Filed in: Uruguay
Conditions were relatively benign this morning with a forecast of N-NW 4-6 gusting 7 in rain squalls.
By the time we dropped our mooring at 13:30, bound for Puerto Sauce about 20 miles to the east, a force 6 northerly was kicking up a nasty chop in Colonia harbour.
Passing the commercial harbour at around 14:00 it began to rain heavily with N winds gusting to 34 knots. We continued at around 4.5 knots under 1/3 yankee. Visibility deteriorated and the shore was no longer visible.
At this point our Raymarine C70 Display System (installed September 2006) failed. This device displays information from all the navigation aids on board including, position, wind, depth, speed, radar and digital charts. It became unresponsive to all controls and went into an infinite loop whereby it cycled continuously between startup screen and off. Turning the power on and off made no difference. Fortunately our 12 year old Autohelm repeaters continued to display our position, speed, wind and depth. Navigation switched to plotting GPS positions on the chart and visual bearings.
The weather eased as rainstorms passed and the wind settled at around 20-25 knots. We could see the shore again and the rest of the trip was plain sailing under full yankee. It became a bit bumpy as the wind veered to NNE-NE.
We were able to sail right into the harbour at Puerto Sauce only starting the engine a few minutes before picking up a mooring at 18:30.
Later, while having a fiddle with the C70, I triggered a factory reset which wiped out all data. 600 plus waypoints, and all routes and tracks recorded since installation. Fortunately most were backed up. The upside was that the unit now seemed to be functioning normally.
News from Buenos Aires that my new passport is ready. That was quick.
By the time we dropped our mooring at 13:30, bound for Puerto Sauce about 20 miles to the east, a force 6 northerly was kicking up a nasty chop in Colonia harbour.
Passing the commercial harbour at around 14:00 it began to rain heavily with N winds gusting to 34 knots. We continued at around 4.5 knots under 1/3 yankee. Visibility deteriorated and the shore was no longer visible.
At this point our Raymarine C70 Display System (installed September 2006) failed. This device displays information from all the navigation aids on board including, position, wind, depth, speed, radar and digital charts. It became unresponsive to all controls and went into an infinite loop whereby it cycled continuously between startup screen and off. Turning the power on and off made no difference. Fortunately our 12 year old Autohelm repeaters continued to display our position, speed, wind and depth. Navigation switched to plotting GPS positions on the chart and visual bearings.
The weather eased as rainstorms passed and the wind settled at around 20-25 knots. We could see the shore again and the rest of the trip was plain sailing under full yankee. It became a bit bumpy as the wind veered to NNE-NE.
We were able to sail right into the harbour at Puerto Sauce only starting the engine a few minutes before picking up a mooring at 18:30.
Later, while having a fiddle with the C70, I triggered a factory reset which wiped out all data. 600 plus waypoints, and all routes and tracks recorded since installation. Fortunately most were backed up. The upside was that the unit now seemed to be functioning normally.
News from Buenos Aires that my new passport is ready. That was quick.