After another dreadfull morning, with driving rain and winds up to 36 knots in QAB, we enjoyed a nice sunny, though windy, afternoon.

This morning I went up to QAB, half an hour's walk in pissing rain, to see the race committee and finish my paperworks. I also went to Waypoint One, the electronics chandlery based in QAB, to complain about the doubtfull quality of Raymarine products. Martin, the manager, is a man of great knowledge on the subject and also a very helping guy. Through him I was able to get the broken endcap on the steering ram for free under warrenty. This end cap is one of the weak links in the unit. In lower temperatures the plastic material gets brittle and easily breaks, as happened to me on the first night out of IJmuiden, the unit having steered only a couple of hours. "We don't get this complaint often", the Raymarine guy said. I think this says more about their clientele than of their products!

Back on the boat I fixed the new end cap without any problems. Then I turned my attention to the main sail. But just when the sail was spread out on the deck to attach patches to prevent wear of the sail in way of the spreader ends, it started to rain again... Shall have to wait till tomorrow.

Bart