Project Days

The seas laid down today and the winds moderated so it was a good project day. I started the day continuing to hook up the solar panels in test mode. By the end of the day I had one panel sitting on the deck generating about 4 amps of current. Considering that it was later afternoon and the sun was behind clouds this was not a bad outcome. I have moved the panel so that it catches the morning light so we will see how that goes. I also made some progress on reconfiguring the house and starting battery setup. Ultimately the 4D I use as a starting battery will become part of the house bank and a new 800 MCA starting battery will provide the power to start the engine. They will be hooked with an automatic charging relay so that when the engine comes on the house batteries will charge without me having to throw any switched.

I spent a good part of today up on Gypsysails mizzen mast mounting and wiring a new radar head. You may remember that Maury helped me do the same on Reboot a couple of weeks ago,

Then it became VHF radio play time as Capbam, Gypsysails and I learned how to use the Digital Selective Calling (DSC) features of the radio. This was motivated by the fact that I was woken up last night by a DSC distress call on my radio. Apparently it was a false alarm but the sound of the radio blaring its distress call alarm really made me pay attention.

It is interesting how priorities change. We have been anchored for several days in a row. One of my three water tanks just went dry. I have a water maker aboard but it is not yet commissioned. It is definitely now on the priority list for before I leave for the Bahamas. In the meantime my choices are to bring water in jerry cans from shore or do a 15 mile round trip to a marina that has water at $0.35 per gallon. Water from shore, although a lot of work, will win out.

I received a call today from Steve, an old Navy buddy (actually, my Commanding Officer three times!) It looks like he will be coming down to spend some time on Reboot. I have not seen him in person for years, it will be a great reunion.