We presented you his journey and the first part of his trip as he arrived in Greece. It's a long way to India. A month later, he's still in Crete blocked by a technical problem. It was while crossing from the Peloponnese to Crete that his autopilot broke.
The Raymarine EV100 has a clean break on its foot. Of course, this breakage occurred at the worst possible moment: the sun was setting, the wind was freshening, the sea was rough and no shelter was on the horizon. You have to pass a point to protect yourself, even forcing you to tack..
Cautious, the sailor decides to put on his cape and let the gale pass. The forecast announces a lull at the end of the night. In the morning, it's a calm. At daybreak, there are still 15 miles to go to La Canet. 3 hours of engine. But there are only about 5 litres left in the nursery. Marc is going to be squeezing his buttocks, in particular by passing the entrance to the port surrounded by rocks so that the engine doesn't run out of fuel at this very moment. But everything's going well this time.
Once we dock, Marc can blow. He will discover that the pilot's foot is a "plastic" part that is screwed onto the metal tube of the jack. Obviously, it is not strong enough for the intensive use Marc makes of it. It lasted 800 hours before breaking. Fortunately the after-sales service of Raymarine France will be understanding and fast. 4 days after the declaration of guarantee, the part leaves France by UPS. To be on the safe side, Marc orders a second one doing this calculation: " If the first one lasted 800 hours, with 2 new parts, I can hold 1600 hours at the helm, so I can reach my destination in India! "
In this port of La Canet, Marc can also easily refuel with water, fuel and food (whereas it has been a nightmare in previous ports in the Peloponnese). As a result, he plans to set sail again as soon as he receives his spare parts. Confident in his navigation and with the experience of this first part of the Mediterranean, Marc intends to increase the length of the legs.
Thus he wants to make a direct route to Port Said in Egypt (the entrance to the Suez Canal), i.e. 500 M, then once the canal is crossed, to reach Port Safaga (300 M) and finally go down the Red Sea on one side to Djibouti (1000 M). His schedule should see him arrive at his destination at the end of October. We will then get back in touch with him so that he can describe his incredible journey to us.
