Boat in Inner Harbor

Pato showed up at about 2 PM and we had a very productive afternoon.  He had already taken the measurements that he required from the spare headsail that he had dropped the day before, so we worked on obtaining the measurements that the riggers in Buenos Aires required.  Pato will pass on my request that the 8 mm wire of the cap shrouds and inner forestay be replaced with 10 mm wire.  This is subject to the riggers being able to make the required changes to accommodate the bigger rigging pins and bigger slots at the ends of the crosstrees without too many dramas.

I complained that the running backstays always became loose after I brought them on hard and Pato looked at it and said that it was ordinary polyester rope (That figures.  Thanks, previous owners.)  I asked that they be replaced with spectra or some other low-stretch material.  I then pointed out the topping lift which was looking rough when I purchased the boat and worries me now that it will fail while I am out at sea.  I have asked that it be replaced.  Pato told me that the rope will be pricey because these people use the best that is available.  I approved because "the best" is the kind of thing I want to hear.

We discussed the repair of the cockpit spray dodger.  Pato will make some inquiries.  If he can source the window material here in Mar Del Plata he can do the repair in a day.  Otherwise he'll have to either send the dodger to BA or bring in some of the material.  I told him that I didn't mind doing without the spray dodger even if it was raining but I would like to have it in place, repaired or not, when Brenda arrives.

We then had a quick look at the sail cover.  I showed him how I could pull the zipper off with the slightest of effort and he said that the stitching had failed due to UV but the zipper looked OK.  I expected a declaration that a new sail cover would have to be made but Pato told me that the zipper could be repaired and the girth of the sail cover could be expanded.  Regarding the lazy jacks, he said that the cord was readily available here at MdP which means that I'll be putting up my own lazy jacks.  Pato will return and we will remove the tarps covering the mainsail and we will decide on how much more girth is required for the sail cover.  I told him that one thing that I like about Argentina is that they repair things rather than automatically replace them.

I was to go up the mast past the radar and drop the top end of the damaged inner forestay so that we could measure the diameter of the pin for the riggers.  But Pato mentioned what a good day it would be to move the boat.  He must have been reading my thoughts because it was a splendid sunny day and I had been regretting that I was not able to move the boat this day, worried that the weather would close in on Friday.  Pato asked me if I would prefer to move the boat now or go up the mast, a no brainer for me.  I suggested that we get the club to send out a launch to remove my lines from the posts because otherwise I'd have to launch the Zodiac, get off the boat, then somehow we'd have to ship the Zodiac while the breeze would be pushing us to the side.  Pato got on the VHF radio and asked for the launch then he spoke with Club Argentino to get the OK for our entry.  Soon the launch came, the ropes were freed, and I asked the man to pull me out of the slip.  I threw him a rope and he pulled me back to the middle of the water not far from the foot bridge, which was being opened. 

Pachuca's new home

Notice the calm water

My slip was not to be around the end of the jetty and inside of it because Luis had advised Pato that there was a bit of a sand bar at the end of the jetty and I would probably have trouble getting past it.  Instead, it was a more or less straight shot: through the bridge, down the fairway past the Club Nautico half of the inner harbor, then to port and nose in to one of the available slips along the jetty.  I managed to nudge the post between two potential free slips (I blame the prop walk on reverse.) but Pato kept his cool and pulled the boat into the slip with my assistance with the engine.  Soon we were tied up and had a pleasant conversation about our private lives.  I mentioned payment to Pato for his sail repair work and he told me that it would be 1600 pesos.  I had that amount of cash on board so I paid Pato on the spot. 

 After Pato left I connected and tied down the electrics then had a look at our new home.  It was a different world.  Instead of the rough and tumble of the outer harbor we were in the calm waters of a true marina.  There is no side jetty, but movement on and off of the boat over the bow is will much, much easier than before because the floating jetty is significantly higher off the water than before.  I would bring the bow closer to the jetty, put the plastic fold out step on the jetty, and Brenda will be able to bound on and off the boat like a gazelle.

I have just updated my position with "Yotreps". 

So it was a very productive day.  Pato has all of the sail measurements that he needs as well as the information that the riggers require.  I've just noticed that I an email from his colleague regarding payment of my 50% deposit on the new sail, which I will attend to tomorrow.  Once Pato provides me with the final price of the sail I will make the deposit and work on the sail will proceed at North Sails in Buenos Aires. 

Tomorrow I'll make some adjustments to the mooring lines, wash the boat down, and visit Luis to deal with the paperwork and payment for our new home.  Then I'll be able to turn my attention to the new deck fitting for the inner forestay (YES!)

Jorge the waiter has been watching too many American movies and has taken liberties trying out his English on me.  He greeted me with "Hallo Mutherfooker" the other day.  I applauded his great imitation then responded with "Hola, Pendejo." (Hello, Jerk.)  He laughed.  Just now he threw the same invective at me and I escalated my response to "Hola, Hijo de Puta" (Hello, Son of a Prostitute).  I regret to admit that I leaned low such low life Spanish phrases in my early childhood.  If he persists I'll work to improve his aresenal and pronounciation of English language insults (my contribution to Argentinian culture).

New Deck Fitting

Mickey Mouse and Mighty Mouse

Minnie Mouse

New Arrival

Dive Class at the Jetty

This morning I picked up the deck fitting for the inner forestay that Tallero Naval had manufactured to my specifications, and I must say that I am extremely pleased with the result.  While I was waiting for the man who would present me with the account I placed the pieces against the 1:1 plane and side views of the drawings to which they had worked.  Even though I had waved my hand over the drawing and said “mas o meno” (more or less) to give the shop room to move in the manufacture, the pieces fitted exactly over the plans: the thicknesses were exact, the hole diameters and locations were exact, and he edges were chamfered (beveled) as specified.

The young man attending to me spoke pretty good English.  He presented me with the account of 700.  “US dollars?” I asked.  He laughed and said “No, pesos.”  That made the charge equivalent to $140 Aussie dollars.  I can easily pay more than that for polished s/s steel fittings at  boat shop.  My nose had been correct: No sharks in that place, just good honest work.

The photo shows the new fittings on the deck behind the Mickey Mouse 9 mm U-bolt arrangement that will be replaced.  The front piece will replace the U-bolt.   Besides the increased strength there is the improvement of  now having two attachment points, the fore one for the headstay and the aft one for the sail, whereas before I had to make both attachments to the one U-bolt.  The second piece at the rear will be inverted and fitted below the deck.  To the “U” attachment will be fitted the wire and turnbuckle designed to hold the deck down when thee is an upward pull  from the stay.  The second photo shows the lower “Minnie Mouse” fitting at present.

I cannot for the life of me understand why the manufacturer of the boat mounted such a weak fitting when me made just about everything on this boat so strong.   And I wonder how the previous owners of this boat fared with it.  I figure that they either did not use the staysail much or were happy to stoically keep replacing the U-bolts.

I look forward with great pleasure to mounting the new fittings, as soon as I've prepared with four suitable bolts and appropriate sealant (which I think that I have in stock).  I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to borrow an electric drill from perhaps the marina.  Otherwise I'll purchase a new drill in the knowledge that I'll be able to use it in Australia.

P.S.  I pawed through my supply of nuts and bolts and found four suitable sets complete with washers and Nyloc nuts.  The bolts are 9mm in diameter, the same as the present U-bolt fitting.  However, there will be 4 bolts and more important, the load on the bolts will be a straight pull rather than the destructive side-to-side flexing on the U-bolt fitting. If anything, the bolts are too long, but that is good because I am not sure of the thickness of  the deck at that location.  The bolts will come through far enough forward in the forecastle to prevent splitting my scalp open by one of them.  Later I can either swap out the bolts or more likely trim them off with a Dremmel tool.  Also, I located two unopened tubes of Sikaflex 291 sealant and one unopened tube of 3M 5200 sealant (white).  The Sikaflex is pretty old but the 3M 5200 is fairly new.  So it looks like I'm good to go with the fitting.

Planning to Move, Quotation Surprise

This morning I visited Martha and told her that I was paid up at Club Nautico until this Saturday, the 24th,  and I was hoping to move the boat to Club Argentino in the inner harbor on either Friday or Saturday.  She told me that Saturday was not possible because it will be a national holiday.  Monday is also out because Club Nautico is closed on Mondays during the winter and there will be no staff to help me free the lines and pull me out of the slip.  Sunday is OK, so that leaves either Friday or Sunday, as long as conditions are suitable.  Martha is OK with me staying a few extra days if I have to, and paying later.

At the club I saw Jorge who was on his way to his daily tennis session and he told me that he would  be glad to help me move the boat, and not to worry because there would be plenty of sailors about who would help. 

I then visited Luis at Club Argentino and he seems pretty relaxed about which day I move the boat in, as long as the conditions are right.  I asked him what slip I would get and he seemed pretty relaxed about that too, pointing in the general direction of one of the jetties.  Again he told me that depth was no problem.  I walked to the ends of the jetty to become familiar with the area and there were some fairly big boats in the slips and the water looked deep enough, for whatever that's worth.  I'll probably return to the jetty and plumb the bottom at various slips by hand.  I told him that I would return when I was more sure of the day, which I hoped would be Friday, and I hope that Jorge will be with me so that we can see exactly where to take the boat.

I then decided to walk over to Moscuzza and see if I could get the quotation for those stays.  Alejandro was in and he seemed surprise that I had not received the quotation by email.  He printed it out I had a quick glance at the number, and told him that I would return the next day.  I don't like to make hasty decisions about money.  I then walked on the the fish shops and picked up some Salmon steaks and a large fillet of salmon.

Back at the boat I had a look at the quotation and saw a “Total” figure of 9,381.02.  That appeared to be over 9,000 pesos but it couldn't be right because it was ten times higher than what I had expected.  On the way out again to see about progress on the stainless steel fitting for the inner forestay I asked Martha to look at the quotation.  Yes, I had read it correctly and Moscuzza wanted roughly $2,000 USD for three pieces of relatively short galvanized rigging: two lower shrouds and the inner forestay.  The easy thing for me to do is to not go back, but I want to tell Alejandro personally that thanks a lot, but his company is charging way much too much money. 

I then walked on to Tallero Naval and fell into another business hours trap.  This time the business was open but the office was closed until 2 PM.  I turned around and walked the roughly 2 miles back to the boat.  Being a stranger in a strange land requires a lot of patience.

I returned to Tallero Naval at 2.30 PM and was told that I could pick up the fitting at either 6 PM tonight or at 9 AM in the morning.  It told him that I would be there at 9 AM.  On the way back I withdrew my daily limit of 1000 pesos from the ATM.  I'll be able to withdraw another 1000 pesos tomorrow which may be enough to cover the cost.  I doubt that they take Visa cards.

I then dropped into the restaurant for this internet session and there was Pato and his wife and young child.  We had a productive discussion.  I was amazed at the detailed information that we must provide to the riggers, so I expect to do some mast climbing while Pato is below at the other end of the tape.  I like that: I seem to be dealing with real professionals who know how to come in fully prepared.

Pato will visit the boat tomorrow when we expect calm winds.  I have agreed to drop the headsail as soon as the wind is calm enough because he needs to take all sorts of measurements on that sail in preparation the on he is going to make for me.  ... I'm not sure why he can't take measurements from the sail on his premises that he has repaired, but he has his reasons.

I then told him about my plan to move the boat to Club Argentino.  He thinks that it is a very good move.  He suggested that I go around the end of the jetty around the large boat with the red awning and take an inside slip, safe from the boats moving in and out of the harbor.  It was good advice.  It was a good thing that I had walked the jetty because I knew exactly what he was talking about.  He also suggested that I go in at high tide to make sure that I get around the end of the jetty with no problem.  He doesn't think that depth will be a problem in the proposed slip.  In any event, the bottom is sand and there would be no damage to the boat (though there would surely be annoyance as we bounced on the bottom then tilted over) if we touched bottom.  Pato agreed to go with me to see Luis at Club Argentino after we have  taken our measurements on Pachuca to get more information on the slip options. 

I decided to send an email message to Alejandro at Moscuzza explaining my rejection of their quotation.  This is not a cop out: I express myself better with the written word, especially in Spanish when I have the assistance of the Google translator.

Paid for Electronic Repairs

Yesterday morning I visited Electronica Naval S.A. to pay Carlos for the repair of the autopilot and radar units.

I was charged for 12 hours of labor which was very reasonable  considering that the autopilot display and computer as well as the radome and C120 were all taken to their premises where boards were cleaned up and repaired.   After that there was the re-installation of the equipment which in the case of the radar proved to be very difficult, with two men spending 3 hours on board locating the cable break and repairing the two broken wires on site. 

So the charge in USD was $480 for labor and $245 for parts.  Mercifully, as a transient boat I was exempt from the 21% tax.  That translated to 3262.50 Argentine pesos.  Fortunately I had over 2500 pesos on hand from the period when I had hoarded pesos in case my new Visa card did not arrive.  I walked over to the bank and withdrew my daily limit of 1000 pesos then returned and settled the account.

I've already expressed my admiration for the company and its ethos.  I can't think of anywhere else where I could have had the units repaired and up running again in one week, and at that price.

After returning to the boat I climbed up to the radar unit and saw that it was the section of cable where it exited the mast that had been repaired.  Even though I spent a lot of money having the mast taken off so that a conduit could be installed for the radar cable, it looks like the hole through the mast remained as an Achilles Heel. 

The radome was initially sited higher up the mast so that the cable would have exited from the mast and gone up the the radome.  However, the rigger insisted that the radar should be further down the mast to avoid the worst of any pumping action of the mast.  I wasn't too happy about the last minute change (and I had to sacrifice the baby stay) and was concerned about having to stretch the cable to reach the new position.   Sure enough, the cable failed before I got to Hawaii and it was replaced under warranty, but I still have a cable that goes up inside of the mast then does a U-turn and heads down to the radome.  I have never seen that heavy mast pumping.  The upper mounting holes are still in place and if I ever drop the mast again (to, say, paint it) I'll see about raising the radome to its original position and reinstating the baby stay because all of the required fittings are still in place.

On the way back to the boat I visited Moscuzza to see if Alejandro had the quotation for the galvanized rigging.  It would have been just past noon but the place was shut.  Maybe they have split business hours.  Maybe they don't open on Mondays.   The proposal has become  moot because I hope to have the boat re-rigged in all stainless steel with the help Pato Salas, so I may let this one slide and quietly die.  It would serve them right for dragging their feet for what must be 4 weeks now.

AIS is Working, and Learning the System

Radar Image with Overlays

Chart with Radar Overlay at Left, Data Screen at Right

Data Page with Depth Graphs

There is no doubt about it: there is nothing like a good night's sleep for solving problems. 

I was at the companionway having a coffee and toast still wondering why the C120  was not reporting AIS targets when I saw the dredging ship on the move only a few hundred meters from the boat.   Surely it would have its AIS on.  Down below the C120 reported nothing.  That settled it.  For two days I had been holding back on the unlikely possibility that no boat in the harbor had its AIS on, but that ship on the move blew away that possibility. 

I went over the problem in my head.  The Comar CSB200 AIS is a stand alone 3rd party product with its own dedicated VHF and GPS antennas.  It had not ceased functioning during the radar and autopilot problems.  The only commonality with the Radar problem was the cable from the Comar plugged into the C120's NMEA input plug.  I had check the connection and it was firm, and it was highly unlikely that the repair effort had damaged the interface. 

Then the flicker of a memory came up: La Paz about 2 years ago, when I recovered from the one and only software crash of the C120 by resetting it to factory settings.  I remembered that there had also been a problem with the AIS.

I hit the “menu” button on the C120, selected “System Setup” then selected “System Integration” as a likely solution.  That brought a menu that included “NMEA Port Setting” (Getting warm now!).  It was set to “NMEA 4800”, no doubt the default for a Raymarine AIS.  I selected “AIS 38400” and returned to the normal display to find my self in a nest of 29 AIS targets within a radius of 1.5 miles.  Soon the AIS alarm sounded because the dredger was moving within my safety zone. That would have to be something to remember: if the CS120 goes into a workshop it will likely return with factory defaults.

The night before I had spent a very productive 2 hours getting to know the radar unit better.  I learned  how to set the VRM (Variable Range Marker) and EBL (Electronic Bearing Line) to get a more precise range and bearing of a target (which can also be done with the cursor).  I learned how to define a safety zone either as a circle around the boat or just a sector, then how to select a target (it takes 3 successful sweeps to lock in on it) and have it tracked.  Thereafter a vector is displayed showing the likely direction of the target and I can set up an AIS type dangerous target alarm if it is going to come too close.  I tried overlaying the AIS targets on the radar display and that worked fine.  The photograph of the radar screen shows the purple VRM circle and EBL line that cross at the the target at the bottom right of the screen.  The lines may be difficult to see but the data at the bottom tells the story: the target is 0.9 nm away bearing 136 degrees to starboard.  It is the grain silo.  In that radar shot you can also see the harbor breakwater at the top right and the entrance to the harbor at the end of it.

Then I fiddled around with creating and editing C120  page sets, pages, and application windows within pages.  I created a data screen, sliced it up into appropriate rectangles, then populated the rectangles with the data that suited my needs.  For the first time I could see vital depth information concurrently with the other data on position, course, heading, speed, wind, etc. I was surprised to see that along with the depth number it was possible to display graphs of the recent history of depths, with points of data every second, 10 seconds, 1 minute, and 5 minutes.  The 1 second graph is for close in work and covers a span of perhaps 5 minutes.  The 5 minute graph covers hours, long enough for me to see the diurnal pattern of the tide.  The photograph of the data window shows the 4 depth graphs that will be of great help to me in the future.  There is another photo where I have split the C120 screen with the chart display (overlaid with radar and AIS data) on the left and the data on the right. 

I finished off by turning on the “timed transmit” feature (for my first time ever), and setting the radar to do 10 sweeps every 3 minutes (options are 10, 20, or 30 scans every 3, 5, 10, or 15 minutes).  That worked fine and I expect to use this feature in the future.  I'll overlay it with the chart display so that every few minutes I can see what is out there. 

I also reviewed the settings for gain, sea clutter, rain or snow clutter, interference from other radars, etc.

I'm regret to admit that it has taken me over 3 years to sit down and really get to know both the C120 display and the radar unit.  Now finally I can exploit all of their features.

Radar Up and Running

Soldering the Radar Cabling

I am writing this blog entry off line on the laptop computer at Pachuca's navigation station while I watch the radar image on the C120 display as the scanner goes round and round.  I am to test the unit all night and then visit Electronica Naval tomorrow to settle accounts if all has gone well.  But getting the radar to work was not easy and I got to see first hand the company's “can do” philosophy in practice. 

The technicians were supposed to arrive sometime in the morning so I occupied my time by putting in an hour into another Spanish lesson then dragging out a large bag out of the forecastle full of damp and musty clothes from the passage to La Paz.  The bag itself had that damp and clammy feel characteristic of salt in the fabric so I emptied it and washed in and rinsed it well in the jetty.  I then packed most of the clothes into the duffel bag for a trip to the laundry.  [Lesson learned: the clothes packed in plastic bags fared well whereas the clothes in an ordinary bag got damp and musty.]  I washed two red shirts, three wool beanies, and a couple of other items by hand and hung them up to dry.  By then it was noon so I decided to walk up to Edison St to drop the clothes off at the laundry and check in with Electronica Naval on the way back.  At Electronica I was told to expect somebody between 2PM and 6PM so I headed back to the boat. 

On the way back I visited Club Argentino about accommodation for the boat over winter.  The office of Club Argentino is in another part of town so I've had to deal with Luis who speaks no English.  I've been able to understand what he says but have not had enough mastery of the Spanish language to ask questions.  He told me that the administration was firm in their position that I would not be given a slip beyond the 90 days in this country that I have been granted by the Aduana.  He knew that I could extend my stay for another 90 days and visit Uruguay and return to start the visa cycle again, but he was adamant.   What I wasn't able to ask him was whether if I got a 90 day extension the club would allow me to stay longer.  This was important because my 90 day visa expires on 17 May, and it just isn't worth moving the boat to their club for that short a time. 

On the way back to the boat I dropped into Martha's office here at Club Nautico and explained the situation.  She immediately offered to telephone Luis and act as interpreter.  I was delighted, of course.  The outcome was that the club would very likely allow me to stay longer once I have received the extension of my visa from the Aduana.  On that basis I plan to move the boat to Club Argentino in the inner boat harbor on 24 March, the end of my rent at this slip.  Brenda will arrive on 10 April but we must plan our touring around the necessity of my being in Mar Del Plata on, say, 10 May to give me time to deal with the Aduana.  I was told that the 90 day extension is a formality but technically I must be prepared to leave the country at the expiry of my visa. 

Part of the reward of traveling is the experience of how other societies do things.  Everywhere else I've visited, commercial entities such as hotels and marinas have not been concerned with my legal status in the country.  That's between me and the government.  Here things appear to be different.  For some reason Club Argentino has bought into the question of my legal status in the country.

At about 2.30 PM two young men arrived at the boat.  One of them had been the one who removed the radome from the mast.  Arnold had made a great suggestion that the cable entry to the radome be sealed with silicone sealant so I produced a tube of it with a rag and asked him to use it.  He didn't understand me correctly and his initial response was No, but when I explained with various gestures that it was for the cable entry he agreed.  They mounted the radome, connected the C120 display, and the radar did not work.  After some effort the technician discovered that a section of the cable inside of the mast had been compromised: the outer sheath had been cut with  an inch or so of wires exposed, and two of the wires had been cut.  I let them know that the cable was in its own conduit inside of the mast that had been specially put in at great expense to me.  Afterwards we agreed that the breach must have occurred where the cable exited the conduit at the top.  My conclusion was that a new cable would have to be swapped in.  They thought different.  He wanted  to solder the two wires, 30 ft up the mast, in a 13.5 knot wind according to my instrument.  He asked if I could provide a 220V lead to reach up to the radar so that he could use his soldering gun.  To his surprise I said Yes and pointed to the cables that I had joined to supply power to the boat.  I pulled the plug out and he seemed doubtful.  He asked if it was 220V and I said Yes, it was Argentino power.  That guy then went up the mast pulling up the power cable behind him and managed to solder the wires.  I was amazed.  A test was done and the radar worked.  He sealed up the radome and gooped the cable entry with silicone sealant.

But then the radar failed the next test.  This caused 20 minutes of doubt and turmoil (in my head anyhow), but the young man seemed sure of his work up top and focused on the connection into the C120.  And so it was.  Not only has the plug to be rammed home, a collar must be turned to screw the cable in tight.  (I could have told them that because I had removed the cables.)  Once the connection was in tight (“apretado”) the radar began to work OK.

I told him that I had expected a cable swap but he told me that it would take too long to bring in a new cable. I contrast this to Hawaii, where the cable was swapped out under warranty with no question whatsoever about repairing the existing cable, which had no visible evidence of damage.  After what I've learned about what can be done here in out-of-the-way Mar Del Plata, I'm beginning to suspect that the modern “swap” culture may have  less to do with economics and more to do with laziness, lack of training and skill, and the knowledge that they can stick it to the client.

I then visited the steering station and showed them that the autopilot seemed to be working OK.  That reminded him and before I knew it he produced his own tube of silicone sealant and sealed the back edge of the display as well as the cable entry.  (Thanks, Arnold.)

They left at 6 PM asking me to test the radar to my satisfaction then visit their offices the next day.

Then I hurried on foot to the laundry about 1 mile away which had asked me to get my clothes at 6 PM “mas o menos”.  I knew that I'd be late but her “more or less” clause gave me confidence that the laundry would still be open at 6.30 PM, and so it was.  On the way back I knew that the foot bridge would be open to boats and closed to pedestrians so I humped the laundry on my back around the harbor and to the boat.  [Curious hours of the footbridge.  The bridge is unattended, open to boats and closed to pedestrians, 6AM-8AM and 6PM-8PM every day except Mondays, when it opens to pedestrians at 10AM instead of 8AM.  These hours are not posted at the bridge, so I have Alberto to thank for asking.  Alberto, by the way, sailed out yesterday for La Paloma in Uruguay.  He expects to be back in about 20 days.  I gave him a bottle of  good red wine  as a farewell gift.] 

By the way, we got power back on the jetty on the evening after my report to Martha.  The next day I made a point of reporting the happy outcome and thanking her for her help.  She told me that a breaker had tripped out.  I know the location of the box containing the breakers so next time I'll help myself.

I ran the radar all night with no problems.  In the morning I powered the C120 off for a few minutes then brought it up again and the radar started up with no problems.  However, I am not able to see any AIS targets which is surprising because I would expect a few ships in the area to be transmitting AIS data.  The transponder is working OK and if there is a problem the only cause that I can think of would be the connection of the NMEA cable at the back of the C120.  [I checked the NMEA cable connection and it was good.]  I'll mention this to Carlos.  I'll also try to get information from Carlos on the possible cause of the radar cable break and how robust the patch is. 

Only time will tell how durable the repairs to the autopilot and radar will be.  Carlos's people have put in an amazing effort and I have nothing but praise for them, but as with any such repairs it will take time and a some stress testing under heavy sailing conditions to completely restore my confidence.

Lighting Work

I spent most of the day waiting for the radar guys who never arrived.  It didn't bother me because I was pretty busy doing something useful with my time.  Shortly after arriving in  Argentina the double-tube neon light over the galley had quit working.  Fortunately I had the solution on hand.

New Cabin LED Light

In La Paz I had purchased and installed a great LED light in the head.  I showed it to Ib who was so impressed with it that he went and bought one for his boat.  I was so impressed by Ib being so impressed that I decided to purchase a second one with switch as a spare in case I lost one of the three neon lights in the cabin area.  That day came and I decided to move the neon in the main cabin to the galley and mount the new LED light to illuminate the main cabin area.  I took my time and everything worked out OK.  The main cabin light now has an industrial look about it, but it is one great light that illuminates the cabin as never before and uses only milliamps of power.  At this point in my cruising life I am more interested in functionality and practicality than appearances.

At 3.30 PM I concluded that the radar guys were not going to show up so I went to the club and had a shower and shave then set off to visit the electronics firm, Electronica Naval S.A. On the way I set up my laptop in the restaurant to check my email in case Carlos had sent me a message about the radar, and Pato showed up with his baby daughter in a stroller.

We had a good conversation.  He's done good work with the sail repair, though there are limits to what he can do without rebuilding the entire sail.  He has repaired the damaged area of the sail and strengthened its surrounds but he says that the problem could reoccur in other parts of the sail.  I'll consider the sail to be a good backup.

Pato gave me the good news that the rigger can come to Pachuca from BA as long as I pay the transportation time, which I readily agreed to do.  It will be a lot cheaper in time and money to pay riggers to come to the boat from BA than for me to take the boat to BA.  Pato will visit the boat on Sunday afternoon to take photographs of the rigging and discuss the new headsail that he will be making.  While he's on the boat I'll show him the spray dodger and the remains of the sail cover and lazy jacks.

Radome at convenient height above crosstrees

Radome lowered on a line

I then walked over to the electronics shop and Carlos happened to be at the window, seemed happy to see me, and asked me into his office where we had a very good conversation.

He explained that his men had not been able to visit Pachuca because they had had to deal with a problem on a fishing boat.  I dismissed this as not important to me, given that fishing boats is their bread and butter and I've got plenty of time.

We are not completely out of the woods with the radar.  Yes, they repaired the logic that converts the analogue signals to digital and transmits them down the cable, but they can't be sure that the cable hasn't been damaged also.  Tomorrow his men will put up the radar and if it works, great, and if it doesn't work they will have to look at the cable.

I asked him about the autopilot and he showed me a photograph of the board of the controller/display at the binnacle which showed large gray spots of salt water invasion all over the place.  Looking at that photo I would have judged the board a write-off,  He said that the board is multi-layered with components communicating between the layers.  They managed to diagnose the problem areas, replace components, and re-establish some pathways with fresh wiring.

I told Carlos that I was very impressed at the level to which his people work.  I told him that it was the best electronics workshop that I had seen yet.  He explained that they consider Argentina to be at the end of the supply chain and they have to rely on their own resources. Fishing boats come in with a problems which must be fixed during the 48 hours that they are in port and his people have learned to do whatever it takes with whatever they have at hand to get equipment up and running quickly.  The workshop is modern and they do keep a lot of spares.  Carlos said that the company was founded in the mid 60's and he represents the second generation.

I popped my head out of the cabin late in the morning and found that a new boat had tied up to my starboard.  It was flying no flags, but looked like a battle-hardened cruiser rather than a local boat.  Later I ran into John, skipper of the French boat, who told me that he recognized the boat, which he had seen in Puerto Williams in the Beagle Channel.  I asked what nationality and he replied "French".  I smiled approvingly.  I'm sure that I'll hear a lot of French chatter during the next few days as they two crews swap yarns.

These boats that have done the Horn and Beagle Channel so far all seem to be mostly of modest size (30-35 ft) and equipment.  They make Pachuca look more luxurious than she is.  It's all understandable.  The young guns with few resources want the adventure, and few cashed up old farts with the better boats are willing and able.

By the way, it took me a while to figure out  how to enlarge the photos with the new system.  Left click on the photo that you want to see, then right click and select "view image".  You will now be able to inlarge the photo.