Friday 21^st & Sat 22^nd Sept.

The electrician came in the morning as promised and succeeded in wiring the solenoid for the anchor windlass. Turned out one of the cables was faulty so not entirely my stupidity at failing to make It work. The speed at which he worked through the options compared to my dithering and puzzling the difference between amateur and professional. I think he is overqualified for basic wiring from what he was saying but sounds like he couldn’t get a job in more sophisticated electronics. He is coming back Monday morning with a better mount for the remote in the anchor locker.

Back on the alternator wiring I was only getting 11.5 V  when using the engine as earth compared to 13V on the battery. So found an earth connection battery to starter solenoid and ran that across to the engine mount somewhere near the alternator. Wasted quite a lot of time trying to get a buzz out of the buzzer that the mechanic in Darwin fitted before realizing it wasn’t working even when connection straight off the battery. Reverted to wiring an LED light and switch from live to the excite connection on the alternator. 1st time  tried it and the light went out after starting as it should but couldn’t be sure I was getting juice out if the alternator. More testing required. 2^nd time the light didn’t go out but the belt was sloppy so then had to work on the new brace that is supposed to   keep the belt tight.  Still not there yet.

Days 5 & 6 of the ultimate cleansing fast and holding up well. A little bored of the diet which is lets be honest is deeply boring but the sense of challenge keeps me going.  Still not hungry and good energy. Missing beer and nuts at 6. It is the procedure and habit of eating rather than the actual food ingestion that one misses. Picking up a drink at breakfast lunch and supper instead of thinking about what to have, preparing and cooking leaves a hole in the day.

Sunday 23^rd September

Mostly wood prep work for a Sunday treat as I know I can make progress. Engine and wiring never sure. Took a bike ride to the Liopetri river about 5m along the coast to the west. A pleasantly scruffy little fishing port after the  swish marina with unmetalled roads and a rocky beach with improvised beach ‘huts’ out driftwood and old bits of advertising hording  for a roof.

Like parts of the marina and surrounding developments, work on the roads, pontoons in the river  and half finished buildings appears to have come to a standstill-probably covid related but the demand clearly sill insufficient to get things re-started. The investment in the marina is staggering and the berths are filling slowly but the apartment tower block and the beach houses look empty still. The 2^nd tower has been  mothballed at foundation level and several shop spaces unlet.

Liopetri beach look back at the marina

Day 7 of the fast. Nearly there. I hadn’t pooed since day 2 and that seemed counter productive for a cleansing fast so I took the salt water enema as recommended -a whole litre of salt water. That certainly shifted some stuff and the salt water as promised just passed through.