Current Position: 12 25.777’S 130 49.149E; Local Timezone: UTC+9.5 SOG: At Anchor. COG: N/A; TWS: 12 kt; TWD: 335; Distance to Waypoint (Darwin, Fannie Bay): At Anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 9572 nm; Engine Hours: 223; Estimate Fuel: 60+15+35;
Comments: I replace the windlass solenoid yesterday and wired it like the original. This morning I tested the windlass and it goes down but not up … the original problem. I know it is not the motor as switching the solenoids allowed me to raise the anchors before. I will assume it is not the solenoids as they are new. The wiring appeared to be good as I just switch it and it worked. The switches are good because when I switch the solenoids back and forth I am using both switches. I am going to have my tea, then crawl back into the chain locker to see if I can figure out what is going on. Very strange. When I short out the down switch, the chain goes down. When I short out the up switch I see sparks but the chain does not move. When I switch the solenoids, shorting out both switches cause the chain to go up/down (but in the opposite directions they are supposed to). I think it has something to do with the resistance in the connections. There is not enough amperage to pull the chain up, only down when the solenoids are wired normally. That should not be the case as only low amperage goes to the switches, but ai will check because perhaps there is a bad connection in the wire. It was a loose connection and is fixed now. I took a closer look at the wiring for the TillerPilot. There are two cables. One is the NMEA 2000 communication cable comprising five wires, two of which are +/- power lines for the network. Yesterday I discovered the NMEA connector was broken and it has allowed the wires to become corroded. It was this short that took out all of my instruments on May 1. The TillerPilot does not draw power from the network, and instead had a separate, heavier gauge power cable. Today I discovered that it too had become corroded, this time because the insulation of one of the wires was nicked. Given these issues, I rewired both cables. I cut off the NMEA connectors, soldered the wires, covered each wire splice with marine-grade heat-shrink tubing, and then covered the bundle with heat-shrink tubing. I also lifted the wires off the bottom of the propane locker and suspended them with zip ties. A quick check demonstrated the network sees the autopilot again and it seems to work. I basically have two more tasks for today … cooking and getting the boat ready for tomorrow (mooring lines, fenders, etc. However, I would like to walk to the bakery, get some exercise, and stock up on some fresh bread. The bakery is open until 2:00. I will cook some food then take the dinghy in about noon. I made a hardy dish with herbed chicken sausage, onions, garlic, parsnips, potatoes, carrots and kale. The sausage, onions were sautéd, then water and a bouillon cube were added with some seasoning and vegetables, the cooked in the pressure cooker for 15m. A can of butter beans were added after everything else was cooked. I also made a very large batch of instant oatmeal. I made it ashore about 11:30, walked to the bakery and grocery store, then back to the Darwin Sailing Club for a couple of beers and some fish and chips, before heading back to the boat, stowing the dinghy and readying the fenders and mooring lines for tomorrow. I also entered some waypoints into the chart recorder. I looked at the weather forecast … very interesting. Basically, it blows 10-20 during the day and 2-6 at night. It is going to be challenging to have a sail plan. My general strategy will be to fly the chute in light winds, but only under supervision. At night when I sleep I will be using the jib and main. The other interesting thing is the wind direction, which is all over the place. If I were to make a generalization, the winds are more northerly at night (N to E) and more southerly during the day (E to SE). This too is going to make sail planning a challenge, with many tacks/jibs.
Comments: I replace the windlass solenoid yesterday and wired it like the original. This morning I tested the windlass and it goes down but not up … the original problem. I know it is not the motor as switching the solenoids allowed me to raise the anchors before. I will assume it is not the solenoids as they are new. The wiring appeared to be good as I just switch it and it worked. The switches are good because when I switch the solenoids back and forth I am using both switches. I am going to have my tea, then crawl back into the chain locker to see if I can figure out what is going on. Very strange. When I short out the down switch, the chain goes down. When I short out the up switch I see sparks but the chain does not move. When I switch the solenoids, shorting out both switches cause the chain to go up/down (but in the opposite directions they are supposed to). I think it has something to do with the resistance in the connections. There is not enough amperage to pull the chain up, only down when the solenoids are wired normally. That should not be the case as only low amperage goes to the switches, but ai will check because perhaps there is a bad connection in the wire. It was a loose connection and is fixed now. I took a closer look at the wiring for the TillerPilot. There are two cables. One is the NMEA 2000 communication cable comprising five wires, two of which are +/- power lines for the network. Yesterday I discovered the NMEA connector was broken and it has allowed the wires to become corroded. It was this short that took out all of my instruments on May 1. The TillerPilot does not draw power from the network, and instead had a separate, heavier gauge power cable. Today I discovered that it too had become corroded, this time because the insulation of one of the wires was nicked. Given these issues, I rewired both cables. I cut off the NMEA connectors, soldered the wires, covered each wire splice with marine-grade heat-shrink tubing, and then covered the bundle with heat-shrink tubing. I also lifted the wires off the bottom of the propane locker and suspended them with zip ties. A quick check demonstrated the network sees the autopilot again and it seems to work. I basically have two more tasks for today … cooking and getting the boat ready for tomorrow (mooring lines, fenders, etc. However, I would like to walk to the bakery, get some exercise, and stock up on some fresh bread. The bakery is open until 2:00. I will cook some food then take the dinghy in about noon. I made a hardy dish with herbed chicken sausage, onions, garlic, parsnips, potatoes, carrots and kale. The sausage, onions were sautéd, then water and a bouillon cube were added with some seasoning and vegetables, the cooked in the pressure cooker for 15m. A can of butter beans were added after everything else was cooked. I also made a very large batch of instant oatmeal. I made it ashore about 11:30, walked to the bakery and grocery store, then back to the Darwin Sailing Club for a couple of beers and some fish and chips, before heading back to the boat, stowing the dinghy and readying the fenders and mooring lines for tomorrow. I also entered some waypoints into the chart recorder. I looked at the weather forecast … very interesting. Basically, it blows 10-20 during the day and 2-6 at night. It is going to be challenging to have a sail plan. My general strategy will be to fly the chute in light winds, but only under supervision. At night when I sleep I will be using the jib and main. The other interesting thing is the wind direction, which is all over the place. If I were to make a generalization, the winds are more northerly at night (N to E) and more southerly during the day (E to SE). This too is going to make sail planning a challenge, with many tacks/jibs.