Sailing schoolboy making stopover
Sailing schoolboy Mike Perham, 17, from Potters Bar, Herts will arrive in Hobart, Tasmania tomorrow in Totallymoney.com his Open 50.
Mike, who hopes to become the youngest solo circumnavigator, intends to make it a pit stop of no more than 48 hours.
‘Ever since the knockdown, one of my main charging sources has become a bit intermittent. I can charge the batteries in three ways, so losing one source isn’t so bad, but it’s best to have them all operational, just in case.
‘Also the bonding has come away from the rudder bearing/sleeve. This is simply a matter of sticking it back together.
‘The third and final job is to repair the clutch on the ballast pump, which has been misbehaving. The ballast can be filled without a pump but it’s better to have it as it makes filling the tanks much easier.
As Hobart is so on the way it’s definitely the right decision to stop here quickly and sort these minor problems out. I’ve sailed almost 7,000 miles since leaving Cape Town and am very pleased and impressed at how well Totallymoney.com has held up sailing in the Indian Ocean, the roughest of them all. I’m dead proud of her. She’s more than just an Open 50, she’s become a good friend and someone I can read very well.’