48:23.551N 004:25.005W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Thu 19 Jul 2012 19:53
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"Compass Saga"
We woke this morning refreshed after nearly 12hrs
sleep. We had spent the night on the inside berth moored three boats
deep. Elephants tramped across our foredeck at various hours, but it did
not bother us in the least - we were tired. We decided to spend the day
close to our berths and to continue the installation of the electronic
compass. This meant dismantling the head liner of the saloon and tracing
the wires to find access to the instrument panel above the companion
way. Having achieved threading the wire to its destination, we were
devastated to discover that it was six inches too short to reach the
instrument. After much head scratching the only solution was to take up
the cabin sole again and move the fluxgate sensor aft of its original position.
The thought of taking up the cabin sole again in amongst the chaos from the
dismantled head liner was too much. My sense of humour most definitely
expired, was Whisper ever going to remain in a livable state or was she
continually going to look like a war zone? The length of wire
originally looked long enough to fit an Oyster 56 but was now not
long enough for Whisper. A pause in the
proceedings was called for and the kettle put on for that traditional
remedy of a good old cuppa to regenerate the spirits. The remedy
worked, off came the table; up came the cabin sole; the sensor was
resited; cable clips removed and replaced; various bits and pieces of
bulkhead removed to feed the wire and replaced until the excess cable
pushed through to the instrument panel! The result is a working
electronic compass. Whisper is back together again, supper has been
enjoyed in comfort and life is good once more!
Tomorrow is planned to be a rest and recreational
day, tools are most definitely banned under the threat of being cast to the
deep. Any more helpful suggestions will be subjected to healthy
scepticism, rejected and cast to the deep - Michael! :-)
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