Friday 27 April
Skipper had been liaising with Jefa about when we expected to arrive, and when he hopes to deliver the three items needing the ministrations of their service engineers. We have just discovered they are closed today, for a national holiday known as ‘Pray Day’. The primary religion of Denmark is Lutheran, and their custom is for all young teenagers to make their first holy communion on this day. From the busyness of the nearby café all afternoon, the formalities seem to be celebrated by long open-air parties.
Skipper spent the day removing the two steering reduction gearboxes and the autopilot. This was not as easy as it may sound, as it involved contorting his two-metre (six foot) frame into a small cramped space of awkward angles at the rear of the guest cabin, right in my stern, among the sharp edges of aluminium ribs and all manner of fittings, with almost no light.
He’d done his homework, and decided the first gearbox would be tricky, as it was his first time on this job, and the second should come out much quicker and more smoothly.
Unfortunately, this proved optimistic: the first extraction was straightforward, but on the second the last bolt refused to come free, despite ruthless use of mallet, hacksaw and drill, all to no avail. It took the whole day to yield, causing minor damage to its mount when it finally gave up the fight. Out of the hole crawled one sore, stiff, very disgruntled Skipper.
Wisely, Mate kept her head down, kept busy with several loads of laundry, and provided regular sustenance and refreshment from the galley.