Wind Charger and Wind

Yesterday afternoon Reg, Arnold, and I had a look at the Rutland wind charger. We got the unit down and took off its blades for easier management. Arnold did some probing with the multimeter and saw that the unit is putting out voltage when he spins it by hand. This is a good indication that the unit is working OK and the cabling is intact inside the unit. In the meantime Reg and I managed to get a piece of cord down the mounting stalk and around a bend so that we now have a "pull through" for the cabling. Reg and I have just visited the boat shop and obtained bolts and washers (with spares!) that combined with the locktite that we purchased yesterday should be sufficient to get a good mount. We also purchased crimp joiners, shrink tubing, and 2 meters of tinned twin core cabling. We will make a join to the 300 mm of cabling coming out of the wind charger, then pass the cable down through the tubing where we will make a second join where there is access closer to the cockpit. We will then stuff the second join in the tubing and see how the unit performs on the way to Adelaide. Arnold plans to encase all joins in silicone sealant.

We had planned to leave Port Lincoln in the early afternoon today and spend two nights at sea, but the winds today are pretty dismal and we may have to wait a day or two in Port Lincoln (if Maclcolm can extend our stay at the pen) until we get better winds. An extended stay in Port Lincoln will not be a burden, believe me.