The last few days have been hectic. It’s now 5:45am and we have been up since 4:00pm. I am currently on the boat trying to get the Iridium phone data connection to work. If you get to read this I have been successful!

Yesterday I was depressed. I had been battling with my new Simrad AIS and had eventually to return it to Simrad USA who confirmed the NMEA data out was bad. Then they had to get a replacement released here in the US as they are not currently for sale here due to FCC restrictions. Simrad technical support worked wonders. They expedited my repair and got me a replacement within a few days. It arrived by 10:00am yesterday but when I hooked it up I still could not get NMEA data. I was tired and upset. I had been banking on it working and being able to see AIS targets on our PC chart plotter. I called Boris Jones (Mid Bay Marine) who had already helped me a lot. He agreed to meet me at the boat last night and after a few ineffective attempts he tried pin connections other than in the manual and got it to work. I was incredibly relieved. So, this morning I have resoldered the connector, put the cover back on and it still works!

After sending this email I have to head back to the house to get Janet and then we have a whole lot of cleaning and stowing to do before our Bon Voyage party at HSH Yachts this afternoon. I’m looking forward to getting away from the dock: I think even with night watches it will be less tiring.

Jeremy