Medical Kit, Para Anchor, Water Maker

I paid my second visit to the travel doctor on Friday morning.

The first order of business was to tell me that the lab analysis confirmed that I had immunity to Hepatitis B (and that a fourth inoculation would not be required).

We then put together a medical kit containing an array of antibiotics covering various medical contingencies. We discussed the inclusion of morphine as a pain killer but given that the care required in using it (e.g. suppressive effect on vital functions) and the prospect of each dose lasting only a few hours I agreed that we should stick to more conventional pain killers (e.g. Panadol Forte). We've also got anti malaria pills to be taken as a prophylactic in Central America.

I'll probably publish a detail list of the kit at a later time.

The cost of the visit and kit, including a 'flu vaccination was $498. From Medibank I get a refund of a princely $1.98.

We unpacked the para anchor and I must say that the equipment and how it hangs together is top quality. No wonder. The "inwater kit" alone - which includes 100m of thick nylon rope, trip lines and floats, shackles - cost just under $1000. Having said that, I'm totally confident in the system. Shackling it to the stainless steel roller at the end of the anchor fair lead will guarantee no risk of chafing.

I telephoned Alby to comment on the quality of the gear and ask some more questions on the deployment (from the cockpit, with no risky trips to the foredeck) and he told me another para anchor story from the previous week. A big cat battled heavy weather for several days between Tasmania and the south island of New Zealand. Two of the crew - one with serious dehydration - were taken off by a ship. Two remained on the cat, deployed their para anchor, and had no further problems riding out the storm.

We delivered the water maker to a bag maker in Rockingham. They will make a heavy-duty padded bag so that we can carry and store the water maker without taking it apart. A few days before that I spoke to a Water Log person in UK who answered all of my questions regarding the unit. As a result of that conversation I have a lot more confidence in the unit. We expect to try it out within the next few weeks.

I purchased a pretty good pair of sea boots at Yacht Grot and am waiting until they get in a medium sized set of wet weather pants before decided whether to purchase the "large" or "medium" size.

I expect to fit a manual salt-water tap in the galley sink. I'll take in the salt water from a "tee" connection at the sink drain hose well below the water line. The idea is to use salt water to wash the dishes, using precious fresh water only to rinse. The NZ-made manual pump/tap is on order and I should have it next week.

The suppliers of the wind charger have generously agreed to replace the damaged HRDX regulator. Unfortunately it will not arrive until 1 April. In the meantime I successfully reinstated the previous setup managing the solar panels. They are now delivering power to the batteries via an ammeter, Arrid charge controller, and manual switch that allows me to direct the input current to battery bank A or B or A&B. The HRDX will be dedicated to the wind charger only. It will have its own inbuilt ammeter and will automatically manage battery banks A and B.

Also, I added the 50 A/H battery that had been used for the anchor winch and turned out to be good to the two large "house" batteries of bank 2. Enclosed is a photo of battery bank 2.