10/11/09

We’ve had a few pleasant days chilling. It’s been cold and grey; not really a lot of motivation to sightsee. We’ve caught up with some of the  boats we have met along the way.  We’re replaced the  pushpit navigation lights as one of the expensive LEDs which was supposed to last 20,000 hours had failed.   The anchor windlass remote has also failed again.  It has a wired connection which simply cannot survive in the anchor locker not matter how careful we are.

Some months ago I bought a wireless two way controller so all the connections could be inside the boat.  It doesn’t have a chain length display but should work as its the same type we use for remote controlling lots of other things on the boat  Steve has just installed it.

I also bought an “Anchor Buddy”, a Kiwi invention whereby you slide a  30 pound weight down the chain to a meter or so above the sea bed after you’ve set the anchor  It keeps the  chain on the sea bed horizontal, provides a damper, reducing sudden boat movements and they claim doubles the holding power.  We’ll give it a go.

IMAGINE arrived yesterday , a Halberg- Rassy 42 with a delightful Chicago family on board.  We hadn’t seen them since Neifu in Tonga.  Demetri had spent time with the kids showing them how to draw fish and they brought him a present of their drawings which have improved greatly. They were very excited to see Demetri and kept us amused for three hours until their mother guiltily came to fetch them.

I enclose a few more obligatory sunsets, the Orion Airplane which buzzed us on the way in, a large blue yacht gone aground on the way in with the crew trying to provide leverage from the boom to get off which eventually they did, the IMAGINE kids, and a picture of a small Anchor Buddy to show the idea.