Alana left Cape Marina in Port Canaveral this morning and is sliding slowly southward at about 3 knots, paralleling the Florida coast at a distance of about 5 nautical miles.
I spent most of Saturday and Sunday installing a complete new autopilot system (everything but the hydraulic pump and ram). I discovered that the new control head is smaller than the old one, so I was forced to cut a new opening in the panel at the navigation station, leaving the old unit in place.
I wish I could say that the autopilot was 100% right, but it is not. It is a whole lot better than the old one, but I am still experiencing very intermittent rudder response failures. I know the system is wired correctly and that all connections are clean and tight, so I am now wondering if perhaps the hydraulic fluid for the ram is just low. I don’t have any fluid aboard, so I’ll not open the reservoir for fear of spilling, but at the first opportunity I plan to slip ashore and get some fluid. I climbed down in the engine room today and observed that the ram was not actually moving every time I heard the pump kick on, so I think that my hypothesis may well be correct. Occasional steering alarms are most certainly a nuisance, but I nevertheless feel a great sense of freedom. I can now leave the helm long enough to raise/lower sails, prepare a meal or catch a quick nap. I’ll watch it through the night and maybe slide into Fort Pierce or another inlet tomorrow for fluid. Anchoring tomorrow night would also keep me out of the southerly winds forecast for Wednesday night.
I just wasted 10 minutes trying to get a decent picture of a pod of dolphins that were swimming circles around Alana. They never surface where I had the camera pointed, so they whole thing was an exercise in futility. I’ve seen a number of large game fish (Wahoo?) jumping out of the water. I’d put a lure in, but the only thing I’m really interested in catching is a Mahi Mahi, and I really don’t feel like cleaning up the mess which any fish that size would make of Alana. Once the sun goes down in about a half hour, I’ll get busy on dinner. It will be some sort of wild mushroom stuffed pasta shells with Alfredo sauce. I see a nearly-full moon rising in the east, so hopefully I can look forward to a moonlit evening of smooth sailing.
I spent most of Saturday and Sunday installing a complete new autopilot system (everything but the hydraulic pump and ram). I discovered that the new control head is smaller than the old one, so I was forced to cut a new opening in the panel at the navigation station, leaving the old unit in place.
I wish I could say that the autopilot was 100% right, but it is not. It is a whole lot better than the old one, but I am still experiencing very intermittent rudder response failures. I know the system is wired correctly and that all connections are clean and tight, so I am now wondering if perhaps the hydraulic fluid for the ram is just low. I don’t have any fluid aboard, so I’ll not open the reservoir for fear of spilling, but at the first opportunity I plan to slip ashore and get some fluid. I climbed down in the engine room today and observed that the ram was not actually moving every time I heard the pump kick on, so I think that my hypothesis may well be correct. Occasional steering alarms are most certainly a nuisance, but I nevertheless feel a great sense of freedom. I can now leave the helm long enough to raise/lower sails, prepare a meal or catch a quick nap. I’ll watch it through the night and maybe slide into Fort Pierce or another inlet tomorrow for fluid. Anchoring tomorrow night would also keep me out of the southerly winds forecast for Wednesday night.
I just wasted 10 minutes trying to get a decent picture of a pod of dolphins that were swimming circles around Alana. They never surface where I had the camera pointed, so they whole thing was an exercise in futility. I’ve seen a number of large game fish (Wahoo?) jumping out of the water. I’d put a lure in, but the only thing I’m really interested in catching is a Mahi Mahi, and I really don’t feel like cleaning up the mess which any fish that size would make of Alana. Once the sun goes down in about a half hour, I’ll get busy on dinner. It will be some sort of wild mushroom stuffed pasta shells with Alfredo sauce. I see a nearly-full moon rising in the east, so hopefully I can look forward to a moonlit evening of smooth sailing.
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