The Saga of the Vessel Circadian: Simrad autopilot

A busy week! Worked hard to complete the installation of the new Simrad autopilot only to get stumped trying to configure it so it would actually function. The technician knew what the problem was immediately. It turns out that contrary to the manual, you can't let it automatically configure settings that usually work because this model is newer and the computer assumes it is the older model. Once we manually configured the settings, it seemed to work fine. Hopefully we will do a sea trial and final tuning on Monday. But, hey, it's Mexico, so quien sabe!
I did manage to squeeze in some fun with friends and get up early enough to capture the best sunrises.

Sunrise from the aft deck (aka, "back porch)

Same view, different day

The converse: sunset looking the opposite way

Sunset at the beach

Time lapse of the sunset

The marina

Banderas Bay from the La Cruz beach

Sheep grazing on some government waterfront property

Street Sounds: If you've got an old pick-up, you've

got a business!

Booty from the weekly market: local organic coffee,

mangrove flower honey, substantial bread from a

35 year-old Chilean family recipe. All excellent!

Tod with the owner of the Fonda Coque Restaurant

(he's the guy on the poster). Excellent food, family

operated, good prices and amazingly friendly folks.

Off-menu treat: spaghetti mole from his grandmother's

secret recipe.

Went to a dinner concert with Tod and Donna to hear

Cheko Ruiz and his group cover the Gipsy Kings

at the Octopus's Garden.

But, there's still boatwork!

Installing the rudder angle transmitter for the autopilot

is always challenging because the arm must always move

exactly in parallel with the rudder arm. It has to be

mounted at the correct angle and the connecting rod

adjusted as needed. I also had to improvise an extension

to the arm to allow a reasonable mounting position.

Of course I also had to make the mounting bracket.

Here you can see the relationship between the rudder

angle transmitter arm (left) and the rudder arm (right).

The extension of the transmitter arm: two polyethylene

stirring sticks bolted to the original arm. Easy, worked

great and looked great. Gotta love the small victories!

The new motor and pump. Not as powerful as the

old WH, so not as fast turning. Should use less

power though. The sea trial should give a hint about

whether it's fast enough to handle rough water.

In order to connect the rudder angle transmitter and

pump motor to the computer, I had to run cable

through the aft cabin, creating only a slight mess.

This is the main computer, open to show

power, ground and network connections.

Cover in place and mounted on the bulkhead

in a locker.

Interestingly, the autopilot does not have an on/off

function, so I had to buy and install a 30 amp breaker

switch. It was a tight squeeze, but I got it done.

The slight mess created in the forward (main) cabin

when routing the network cable for connecting the

electronic compass.

The Simrad autopilot compass resembles the

saucer section of Startrek's Enterprise.

Lawyers. You have to first figure out how to scroll down

to read the whole thing before you can accept and

actually use the autopilot.

Working!

Got a very unusual (for this time of year) rainstorm this week that brought more than three inches of rain in one day. That brought clouds, which brought some nice sunrises and sunsets. And despite coming down with a sore throat and cold, I got the hydraulic steering working again and started the installation of the new Simrad autopilot. Ahh, the glamour of yachting!