April 21, 2016

It was a very busy and productive week. The new solar panel and controller arrived and have been installed. My friend Bruce, who is a master mechanic, adjusted the valves on the diesel for me. He didn't want to charge me, but I paid him anyway.  (Sometimes he's just too generous for his own good.)  I also removed the windlass so I can bring it to the manufacturer in Riverside in order to fix the grease leak. My friend Gary sold my old, non-op outboard for me for $60, and I was able to successfully receive a weatherfax using the SSB and OpenCPN on my laptop  And yes, I'm tired! It didn't help that I had a couple of days of intestinal distress, either. And with multiple projects going, the boat is a mess! Enjoyed the beautiful weather though!  

April 14, 2016

It was a better week for me, but not for some fishermen who ran into the entrance jetty and lost their boat. At least no one lost their life. 

The mounting bracket assemblies for a new solar panel that will be mounted on the dinghy davits are almost done and I ran two-conductor marine wire from the davits, through the deck and into the engine room where the solar controller will be located. The spare motor/pump assembly for the WH Autopillot is back together and ready for stowing. (I found a replacement pully for it at Oxnard Equipment Surplus for less than half what it would have cost to get online.) I didn't get around to testing the SSB/computer weatherfax reception, although I did familiarize myself a bit with the software. The bad news: I will need to remove the grease-leaking windlass and bring it to the manufacturer in Riverside next Friday so they can examine it. If it's just a bad o-ring, they can probably fix it the same day. Wish me luck!

Photo:  Bruce Thompson