Two repairs kept me busy: Yesterday the autopilot engaged by itself. Three month ago I had replaced the B&G Autopilot Controller since the old one died due to moisture inside. Now, the new one had exactely the same problem. I opened the plastic housing and found a fair amount of water inside. The unit is advertised to be sealed and is for use on sailboats, to be mounted near the steering wheel. I recycled the electronics from the old one, which I had dried and kept, and parts of the new one, glued and sealed the housing and mounted the unit again. So far all is working fine. Then around noon today, I wanted to unreef the mainsail. The sail got stuck in the mast. After some persuasion one of the cars that run on a track up the mast came loose and I could lower the sail without climbing up the mast. It took me over two hours to fill the car with 42 small torlon balls. The balls from this ball bearing wear off after many years and have to be replaced. I managed to get 40 balls in, all is running smoothly. Some time, the mast track will need replacing. On my last mast check in Panama I noticed that the track has several areas of corrosion. I am very excited about my first atoll passage (Fakarava north pass) tomorrow around 8:00 o’ clock. The current and the waves in tha pass can be very strong, the aim is to enter when the current is as low as possible (slack tide). Wish me luck.
One reply on “Last Night Of This Trip”
The whole track will not need replacing,i had same issue and cut and moved the track so the worn parts were not in contact with the batten car in the same places.