It was only 100m to the fuel berth but the moment we let go the lines I realised the steering was jammed. We very narrowly missed the stern of Morning Haze as we headed out to the middle of the fjord and clear water. Then came the frantic emptying of lockers and checking for lines over board to find out why the rudder was jammed but no culprit was found. By judicious use of bow thruster we nudged our way back to the berth we had just vacated and breathed a huge sigh of relief when safely tied along side after a short but stressful journey.
Then came the detective work and the awful contemplation that this may involve getting wet to eyeball the rudder. At this point we were approximately 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle so I decided the swim was a last resort!
Out came the tools and the culpit was soon found.
The spindle on the port wheel had jammed and I just heard from Lewmar that a replacement will take at least4 weeks to source. We do, however, have a starboard wheel and once I had disconnected the port one the steering was restored.
We weren't brave enough to take the trip to the fuel berth again though so instead gave our arms a stretch humping cans back from the garage.