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What does trouble always happen at night!!! Had a good run up from North Bay and were happily motorsailing along when the engine cut out at 17.30hr. Ian pinpointed the problem to the electric fuel pump…. Hitting it with a hammer did not bring it back to life as my engine course lecturer said it would… With telephonic input from Chris on Westwind Ian bypassed the pump by rigging up a line straight from the plastic diesel canister lashed to the binnacle… Much relief was felt by both of us when the engine started. However, the best option seemed to stand off Bicheno instead of going back south, so we basically lay a hull the entire night and just drifted a little with the current. Luckily for us there was the gentlest of winds and virtually no swell, and only two other boats to worry about. It was very peaceful sitting on watch listening to music on the Ipod.

This morning we started the engine and anchored in Bicheno, which is a tiny fishing port on a beautiful part of the coast. Being a Saturday there is no knowing how long it will be before we get the pump fixed/replaced. However, the weather looks settled and would not have allowed us to proceed further north anyway.