We had intended to leave yesterday either with a mended connection to the radar or, if it was going to take too long, without.  We ended up with the worst of both worlds when at around 10am the chartplotter was returned with mended pin that then broke again as soon as they tried to plug it in.  Off they went back to the workshop full of good cheer because they knew how to fix it now and we never saw them again.  All day, nothing.  No sign of them.  Mobile switched off.  We hung around not sure whether to prep the boat for departure.  Nothing happened so put we stayed.

This adds a layer of complication because we had taken the smart card back to claim our deposit so we now have to get another one in order to top up the water tanks (including getting the hose out, fitting the fittings, topping up the tanks, putting it all away again).  Back to the office to pay for another night, get another wifi ticket, go to the shop to buy more chicken and so on.

The Raymarine Chartplotter has been in the workshop for three days now while the radar cable connection is, hopefully, fixed.  Having got the thing we would prefer it to be working again however, if it will take several days then we will do the next leg without it.  We didn’t have it from Lanzarotte to here and managed perfectly well.  It really is needed when going through busy shipping lanes, partly because you can ‘see’ over the horizon and partly (mostly) because you can use it to accurately track who is heading in your direction and likely to get too close so that we can take avoiding action early!

We are incredibly frustrated by the Raymarine electronics now because we seem to have had so many problems.  The user interface is great and it is a tremendous asset to have it but it has not been as reliable as it should be.  We are two retired cruising sailors so it is hardly getting the bashing it would do on a commercial fishing boat so it is a mystery as to why it has seemed so fragile.

All for now.  Will put up a quick post when we are actually on our way.