.

Before long, Mark Shepherd, his wife and daughter returned to the bay. I threw them a line and was soon under tow back to Cadboro Bay. It was surreal moving through the water with no sails up and no engine noise. It was like being in a really big canoe. Very quiet.

Before leaving T2, I pumped the bilge and found it contained what must have been transmission fluid. I have spoken with Tom since then and he suggests the best case scenario would be if the tranny fluid leaked out of a fitting which could be re-tightened and the tranny topped up with fluid. However on further investigation and a chat with Ben at Gartside Marine he suggested that even if the tranny was empty of fluid, it should still engage.

He suggests I look at the output plate to see if it has somehow become disengaged from the drive shaft. I will likely have to remove the transmission, bring it home and either fix it or have it fixed.  Tom has agreed to join me on the boat next Saturday. I'll keep you posted.

Leaving Chatham Island under tow.