Compass Find

Unfortunately 'Penny' as SWMBO has nicknamed her doesn't have a compass fitted, so I've been watching t'bay for a while now hoping against what seemed like all odds to find a bulkhead mount compass at a sensible price ( read cheap! ).

In the worst case scenario I was prepared to buy one new ( as luckily I don't have to replace the Depth Sounder ). All of a sudden, not one but two turned up within a matter or hours, the same model - Plastimo Mini Contest.

This was perfect, the only question was would they go for silly money?

Well to cut a long story short, I managed to get one for a reasonable price, knowing that it wasn't perfect.

It arrived quickly, but the first observation was that 2 of the mounting bolts were missing and one was broken off in the unit.



After turning the bolt, it turns out it's a actually threaded rod... and not only that I have some stainless bolts that are the same thread.



Hacksaw to the rescue..



Drilled out the stuck bolt and now there are 4 mounting bolts where they should be :)



Next unscrewed the light as it wasn't working...




Bulb totally blown, but it's the same size as a 5mm LED, so a quick search of t'bay later and for the princely sum of £1.42 I have a 12v LED installed.

Combined Cabin and Chart Light

I found this on ebay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-12W-Waterproof-Car-LED-White-Red-Light-Reversing-Brake-Stop-Light-Lamp-/262474813851?hash=item3d1cb7d19b:g:FZsAAOSwepJXV~tP

Combination white and red LED light in one fixture. Perfect for those with smaller boats as a cabin light / chart light.

To make it easy to switch between the two, I swapped out one of the switches on my panel with one of these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252246909694?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&var=551073891416&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
(SPDT Option)

So that switching one way is white and the other way is red.

Stepping the Mast

Major moment this weekend, the amazing guys at the brokers / yard ( James and Stig ) helped ( or rather showed me how-to ) step the mast.

Their help was invaluable, amazing, and above all patient, and now the mast is stepped and rigging is in place.

She now looks proper, and it's a relief to have the rigging in place and shipshape.

I also managed to fit a solar panel and controller, and check through the electrics. At first the only thing I could get working was the cabin light. The nav lights and depth sounder were dead.

Now I don't particularly care about the nav lights as a: I don't intend to be sailing at night for some time and b: they are not that expensive to replace with LED's ( which is my preferred choice ).

However, the depth sounder is another cheesecake altogether, and a rather important one that deservers to be placed at the head of the table! This is ( as far as I am concerned ) a seriously important piece of kit!

So I started to take a look at the wiring in more detail and discovered that the wiring for the depth sounder was not intact. Queue a few minutes of clipping, sleeve removing, swearing, and reconnecting,  and then I was jumping for joy as the Depth Sounder came back to life ( or at least showing me the 'Out' message :) )

Additionally the kids helped 'cleaning' and getting soaked at the same time. Oh well, at least it was fairly sunny at times and windy so their clothes dried quickly !

<btw> Is it only my son and I that kiss the boat goodbye ??? bought a tear to my eye when he climbed up, kissed her and said 'love u so much' !

A happy Girl

She's happy with the new addition :) ( however her brother insists that he's the Captain ( swashbuckle cheer 'ahh hah' )