Another cool overcast morning on Kaneohe Bay. As usual I am optomistic that "Today is the Day!" when the last of the important projects will be completed and we can finally schedule our inspection and then kick back with a beer and wait for June 1st to roll around.
Right.
In the previous post I finished up with a male in full plumage. Here is another example. In fact here are two more examples. Both serving to illustrate the fact that the weather in Hawaii is not always as balmy as one is led to believe. Or, perhaps these guys, like the Kolea are getting ready for a trip to Alaska.
Some recent projects have involved the electrical systems. The first one had to do with the control panel for the (monster 2.5 kW) inverter , battery charger. This panel has some circuits that communicate with the power unit using a data cable like a phone line. First the inverter function failed and refused to turn off then the battery charger refused to come on. So, no chance to ignore it any longer and I spent some time digging around in my piles of spare stuff at home. Lo and behold, there were not one but two replacement units available. (It's a long story.)
Of course, the problem might have been in the cable (unlikely) or at the other end where the signals are decoded. Fortunately a new panel did the job and it even fit exactly into the old panel location (even though the company name stenciled on the front had changed). Another thing I want to mention here is the Power Pac we have to cover the situation where the whole electrical system fails and we don't have any way to start the engine. I bought an emergency starter unit in an auto parts store and we are going to test it sometime soon.
Then there is water. We have two 30 gal tanks but we need another 30 gal to satisfy the race requirements. The six gallons in sealed containers that we have for emergency use count and the 4 six gallon jerry cans in the photo finish the job. Above and beyond the minimum requirements we will carry at least one liter per person per day in bottles that people can write their names on and carry around with them.
Time flies and this image greeted me when leaving the boat the other day.
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