Monday, March 30, 2015

Opua: worked




        Not very hard, but some.
        I replaced three of the cockpit sheet bags, one was torn, the other two are now a size bigger.  
        I’ve moved the Yellowbrick mount from the stern pulpit to the partial companionway bulkhead inside The Great Cabin.  
        During the passage from Neiafu, when because of a battery charging problem I kept the unit in the cabin to send up manual positions, I found It convenient to be able to check battery status and tracking history.  It is also much easier to turn bluetooth on and off to email Carol.  Going back to the stern was sometimes an ordeal underway, and seeing the display in bright sunlight difficult.  Also the unit will stay drier in the cabin, though on GANNET of course not completely dry.
        I’ve placed it just to one side of the companionway so it doesn’t interfere with my standing there, yet still has a view of the sky.  I’ve had it operating since yesterday.  Here on an even keel at the mooring it has no problem sending positions.  I do not know if it will have difficulty when GANNET is heeled over and/or I am standing in the companionway when it is trying to transmit a position at sea.
        I have also almost completed the installation of the tiller pilot I am testing for Brian Boschma.  Two small boxes, one the motor control unit, the other the compass/control unit, are in place.  The compass/control on the port side of the companionway bulkhead, the motor control on the partial bulkhead below the cockpit.  And the deck plug into which the above deck drive arm connects is positioned.  All that is left is to connect the wires and properly seal the deck plug.  I may get to that tomorrow. 
        I also did a load of laundry today and managed somehow to lose a hat.  I have others.

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        In Sydney, Richard anti-fouled his DUYFKEN, which Google tells me means ‘little dove’ and was the name of a Dutch ship used on an early voyage of  Australian exploration.
        From the photo he sent, DUYFKEN’s topsides are as immaculate as her newly anti-fouled bottom.

        In England, Ian had his first sail of the year, helping deliver a friend’s boat from Brighton to Falmouth.  They found joy pushing hard through the night to get in to beat the weather.  And did.
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        I haven’t checked our weather forecast, but hope to go sailing to a nearby anchorage or two later this week.
        I’ll have the Yellowbrick on sending up positions at one hour intervals while I’m underway. 
        The tracking page is:  http://my.yb.tl/gannet
        You can go there now and see GANNET dancing around her mooring.