Well, what's been happening over the winter period, well as you can imagine quite a lot.
Skipper thinking ahead to our adventure to Portugal this summer organised a new and I mean new satellite communications system such that the downloading of Grib (weather) files can be uninterrupted anywhere in the world. Skippers not daft, in that with this system he'll also be able to attend Teams meetings as well, of course, send and receive attachments for his work in e-mails. So advanced is this bit of kit, which is merely the size of a book that it is just one up from a Beta version and contains a few bugs from release since discovered and a few that haven't been. What is it one of your philosophers said "We know what we know, but we also know what we don't know, but there are things out there, that we know we don't know and then there are those we don't know we don't know!".
Anyway, the point of ordering this back in September at the boat show is to get it fitted and tested prior to leaving the shores, so clever is it that it will detect if there's a cellphone network available and ensure that any communications from me, will take that option. If out of range i.e. 5-10nm offshore, then it will connect with the satellites and the service will be uninteruppted. It had to be sent back to the UK dealer to have a few bugs that Skipper was pulling his hair out about, removed and so it should be re-fitted middle of next week.
Bluesky - Skylink 600
The system has been fitted to my starboard rear cabin, this thing can find satellites in orbit around the world, but the aerial length is only 2.0m and so Skipper has had to put it close to the stern to enable the aerial to reach the pull-pit. The black object with the green light on the end is not a lightsaber, it is to plug in an ordinary phone with a BT socket, £9.99 from Argos will do (other outlets are available).
You can see that a cigarette lighter socket has been fitted that also has a built-in voltmeter and above and below that are two USB charging sockets, enabling the crew to charge their phones or tablets without clogging Skipper's chart table.
Having fitted the new Axiom plotters and heard stories of some fisherman turning off their AIS equipment, probably because they are fishing in waters they ought not to be, hence the reason they are struggling to obtain the necessary permits! Skipper has opted to go for a digital Doplar radar.
He's been up my mast several times and brought the old one down and replaced it, he had a new base as it appeared that the holes for the bracket were different but this wasn't the case when he was up there it was able to use the same bracket without any changes. Now all he has to do is to get the data and power cable to the bottom of the mast. The mouse line he installed when pulling the old cable out kept getting fouled on something and eventually it came away, so he bought an Endoscope camera to see what was happening and as you can see clearly below the issue. Within my mast, I have a plate with a tube welded for cables to pass through, all Skipper has to do now is to get a rod through the gap and feed a new mouse line to the base. At least he can see what he's doing!
The white line with black speckles is the jib sheet
the bright spot is where this exits the mast
down to the pulleys at deck level
The next item on Skipper's agenda is to sort out my Autopilot, three times the new ACU200 system went AWOL and sent me off into a gybe in one instance and into a complete search zig-zag pattern in another. Clearly, this cannot happen if it is to be relied upon out at sea. A Raymarine expert together with the Engineer that fitted it came on board last year and decided that the 200 unit was not powerful enough as 15amps had been seen to be drawn by the electric motor, so a 400 unit will soon be fitted and when I go back into the water (soon), a sea trial will be had to make sure it works as expected.
There's just my portside to wash, chemically clean, wax and polish up before I sit in the Marina for a few weeks before going home. It is hoped with all the systems and the work put in, that this season will see much longer trips and days at sea.
