More Items off the Shopping List, Sailing on Saturday

I have been able to cross off more items from my USA shopping list.

Two "Excalibur" 120mm x 120mm computer fans made by Cool Master arrived early in the week. (http://www.ninjalane.com/reviews/cooling/cm_excalibur) I will use one for extracting air from the compartment holding the refrigerator compressor to replace the one that failed in Argentina.  I purchased two because there  was free shipping with orders of over $25, which made the second fan very cheap.  The all up cost for both fans was $32.35.  The run-of-the-mill fans were so laughably cheap that I sought a more up-market fan with better prospects.  The Excalibur fan rides on ball bearings rather than sleeve, giving it a longer expected life of 100,000 hours.  Arnold connected one to his motorcycle battery and the fan pushed out a serious amount of air.  It draws 320 Ma at full speed.

Then the open flame toaster came in.  Arnold and I had tried to find one at several large sporting goods stores with no luck then Sandra made the useful suggestion that I try Amazon.  Amazon had what I wanted in stock so I immediately placed an order and it was delivered to the house about two days ago.  It is a collapsible one made of stainless steel and should see me through to Australia.  The cost of the toaster (http://www.amazon.com/GSI-Outdoors-Glacier-Stainless-Toaster/dp/B001DHMKV6) was $9.52 but taxes and shipment to the house brought it up to $16.52.

Waterproof Silicone External Keyboard

This morning I drove to Silverdale and picked up the flexible waterproof computer keyboard that I had ordered the previous week.  I plugged it into one of the laptop's USB ports (a PS/2 adapter was also provided) and found that I could use either the in-built or external keyboard.  In a heavy seaway I'll probably protect the in-built keyboard with plastic and rely on the external waterproof one.  The cost including tax was $26.98.

On Wednesday Arnold took a call from West Marine in Kingston advising that the surface mounted Raymarine ST6002 autopilot head (i.e. display/control) had arrived.  This is to replace the one on Pachuca that was repaired in Argentina with the advice to replace it ASAP.  I telephoned yesterday and told West Marine to expect me on Monday to pick it up.  This was the number one item on my USA shopping list.

Tomorrow (Saturday) at 1 PM we will meet Chris Boscole at Salady Point on Camano Island for a sail on Orisha, his 65-ft McGregor.  The forecast is for good weather and light winds.