Sunday, August 5, 2012

Installing wind instruments

The last couple of weekends were hot and stinky on the Chesapeake.  So we decided it would be a great time to install Lyn's new wind instruments.  Of course, it's never as easy as you think.  

Most of the cabin headliner had to come off in order to get access to the back of the cockpit coaming to install the gauge and to snake the cable up from the bilge.


Earlier this summer, we moved the speed/depth gauge to the coaming and left it offset a little to make room for a future wind instrument.  Shoulda just bought the wind instruments back then and done them both at the same time.  <sigh>  Maybe we'll wait a few months and then add something else to the coaming....


Side by side - lookin' good!  As an added benefit, with both the instruments connected via NMEA, it means we'll now be able to read both true and apparent wind, and boat speed and VMG.  Never had that before so it'll be fun to learn how to use that info. 


Next phase was the stuff at the top of the mast.  This was our first time to try out our new hoist plan using the spin halyard run forward to the anchor windlass instead of the halyard winch.  Worked great!  

There was plenty of room on the masthead, but it took longer than planned.  Turns out drilling the holes and then tapping in the screws was more challenging than planned.  Snapping off the first drill bit didn't help.  Very thankful to have stuck an extra bit in the tool bag!

How long did it take?  Long enough for my legs to go numb.  Kinda hard to stand up when you finally reach the deck again!


Of course, I had to snap a couple pics from the top.  Here's the ever-popular view straight down.


And a view of the marina looking north from our slip.  So many boats!  All different.  Some used a bunch.  Some not so much.