Thursday 26th Jan 5.15pm

Just crossed the equator- couldn't rember the proper ceremony so tried a photo instead.


Jottings.

Things that were faulty now working:
Outboard has been fine since last carborettor clean.
Jib Furling. I fitted the steel tongues that I had made in Trinidad but subsequently used a plastic disc thinking it would be better. The disc was too thin and broke but the steel tongues are working well. Roller bearing was sticky but dose of oil seem to have worked. Fox's said when they bent the foil putting her in the water that the roller furling would need replacing in a year or so so it has done O.K.
Engine. No problems since Jorge put it all back together. Welded oil hose not leaking.
Fresh Water Pump.  New pump fine- but doesn't always shut down automatically so have to make sure turned off at the control panel. I presume this is due to slight pressure leakage somewhere? I have no plan to correct it (don't know how).
Satellite connection- just needed a network cable (the one I had made in Mutis didn't work). I said to Jorge when he took me to the computer expert that anything is possible in Mutis- well not quite. (mind you computer solutions are not always possible 1st time in Banham either).
Autohelm. New one installed at shelter bay working well.
Anchor Remote. Also fitted at shelter bay-working fine.

Things that are still faulty:
Alternator. Needs an electrician to advise.
Control panel switches. Several are difficult to switch or not switching. Mast & Port cabin being two. I bought a couple of replacements in Panama but they don't fit the holes. The digital monitor read out is tempremental and jumps eratically. Newpanel or just new switches? New panel would be major.
Automatic bilge pump. New one ordered but didn't arrive in time to bring out. The hand pumping is good exercise anyway. The water ingress is mainly the prop shaft which reduces with a pump of grease or tighten of stuffing box bolts but doesn't leak if stationary so not a problem when moored.

New faults:
Chart desk GPS. Stopped working a couple of days ago. It is an old Garmin GPS 152 and is handy to use when at the desk although there are several other more modern gadgets that also give GPS.  It had a blue horizontal line across the screen for a while then nothing.

Best recent purchases:
Sugru mouldable glue- used 5 of the 8 sachets that I bought out.
New samsung tablet used as cockit GPS. Not quite as clear in sunlight as the Garmin but not bad and it plays music if you want (or chess)! Navionics mobile charts much much cheaper than official Garmin.
A Worx 12V drill. Just keeps going without charging. I have just about run it down now sanding but it has done a lot of work with great power.
Loaf of bread bought in Esmeraldas- picked up a healthy looking brown loaf with lots of seeds - when opened the inside is purple! Turns out the picture shows it to be blackberry bread- very tasty although sweet.