Back in the Water

1. Pachuca is back in the water. She was lowered into the water at 11.30AM on Thusday the 20th and I got to work trying to figure out why the Auto helm display on the binnacle would not come on. Greg Hanson and Peter Turner from Maritime Electronics helped me with with a proper earth connector to the display and identification of a blown 5Amp fuse as the culprit. I also wired up the compass light
2. Brenda took delivery of the tailor-made bag for the water maker that she funded as a contribution to the Pachuca adventure. It is a terrific bag and the guys that made it exceeded their own promises. They added an extra layer of padding on the floor of the bag and included a special pouch for the propeller. They visited the Waterlog web site and showed the water maker to various people.
3. We had aboard Tamio Meguro, a Japanese circumnavigator. He sailed out of Japan in June 2005 in his small (about 30 ft) red boat "Dharma". He sailed to BC Canada, down to New Zealand, then 60 days sailing to round the Horn. He then sailed up the West coast of Africa to Europe, then across to the US, the down the carribean and down the S. Africa and now Fremantle. Within a few days he will depart for NZ then back to Japan. Some highlights: He has hit two whales but no containers. He lives on only 1 liter of water per day. He does not now carry a water maker nor does he collect rain water. He doesn't fish, either. I used my chart plotter to identify every port between Esperance and Adelaide that could supply him with fuel.
4. Following a chance conversation with a visitor from Hillary's in a Westerly 33 this morning Brenda and I covered the steering wheel with 3.0 mm cord. As luck would have it I had a full roll of the stuff in the boat. Following the fellow's advice I then painted the covering with ordinary gloss enamel paint.

Enclosed are photos of the water maker bag, Tamio's boat "Dharma", and the steering wheel.