Big day today! We achieved the following:
Put the blades on the wind jennie
Drilled and fitted the mounts on tiller and boat for the autopilot
Got the autopilot working
Installed the masthead anemometer
Oiled the blocks
Bent on the sails, reeved the reefing lines and installed the sail ties.
Installed the trip lines on the sail poles
Tested the VHF installation (good: 8% loss)
Moused the shackles at the main masthead
Whipped the triatic lashing
Provisioning food for our journey
Yesterday we had drama with the cranking battery. It wouldn’t turn the engine over. We replaced the wiring to the start selection switch from both the house and cranking bank and the switch itself, no success. Matt Orbell from Green Marine took the battery away to be charged and load tested, while I fretted about the starting motor being the actual culprit. Matt returned this morning with a new Optima Blue Top spiral wound AGM battery. The old one was stuffed, and it was only 8 months old. Various theories were discussed as to why that might be the case, but it was a warranty job and the good lads at Autocraft replaced it.
Incidentally, replacing that wiring and switch means that ERIK now has no old wiring left in the engine room, apart from the wiring loom for the engine. Hopefully she’ll be good for another 25 years…. I must remember to write all the wiring stuff down.
Tomorrow we will venture back to Kings Pier, do our washing, have lunch with friends and family and tie up some loose ends. We’ll then set off for Bruny Island in the afternoon and overnight at the Duck Pond.
I have to find a way of lashing the new batteries down, finish sealing the foredeck now it has additional wiring through it and install the looming on the new wiring in the engine room.
As our youngest said, “Tomorrow we start our journey!”
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