So Dell didn’t get back to me. It seemed my original order had been deleted out of existence. I could find orders I made a year ago but not the one from yesterday. So I ordered another laptop for Sam. In doing so I noticed I put the wrong expiry date on my credit card. So I corrected that and crossed my fingers. I woke this morning to find that order has gone the same way. I don’t think Dell wants me as a customer. Now time to consider options (and kind offers).
In the morning we had the nice treat of a Skype video call to see our granddaughter Bao. She was asleep which is how she always is when we’ve seen her. I’m not complaining because this is far better than crying. Crying babies is something from my past. Coped with it then. Had enough of it now. Still – it’s good to be able to use the technology to stay in touch.
Helen and I took a trip out in the car to get some bits and pieces. After trying a number of different stores in town I found a place who could make up a longer VHF cable to join our VHF radio to the new splitter and a cable to join the new stereo to the splitter so we can use the mast antenna for radio. I left my order and returned to the boat.
We then set about testing the stainless steel at the base of the two rear bimini supports. This process highlighted the crack we knew about on the port support and revealed two more on the welds on the starboard support. What we really need to do is to test the smaller supports on the forward end of the bimini but they’re in an awkward spot and we really need to have a still air day. We do know of a Lagoon 420 that had a forward support fail so this is driving us to assess the risks on our boat. The next thing will be to decide what to do about what we find. If we have to do work it would be better here in NZ. It’s good to know we have a potential problem than we can get ahead of but part of me feels ignorance would truly have been bliss. For a while at least.
The French techs worked furiously. The hybrid system is no more. While they worked I collected the pieces I wanted to keep and arranged all the parts we’re selling to another hybrid owner. The motors were winched out of the overhead hatches using the main halyard and lowered to the yard. Trying to lift one of them I couldn’t even budge it. I decided I didn’t want to take them to Australia to sell them. There is no way we can reasonably store them. And the additional weight is something else. I let my contact know of my decision. One last option is to freight one of them over. I have to look into the pricing on this. I can’t imagine it will be cheap.
As they progressed we had occasional conversations with the techs about differences they were finding. The main complication was the addition of the inverter/charger. Their English is as limited as my French so it took time to work things out. Diagrams and google translate were both very useful. In the end we worked it all out.
By the end of they day they had not only gutted the hybrid system (RIP) but made inroads into preparing the rear compartments for the installation of the motors. I felt for Joel who spent a couple of hours sanding away the interior of each space to prepare the surfaces for bonding on the motor supports.
It was amazing how much wiring and cabling was ripped out of the boat. I collected a whole load of 12V wires that I can keep for future projects. I’ve left a whole load for folks here in the yard to help themselves to. I collected up all the 70mm2 and 50mm2 72V cables for the propulsion system and took them into town to sell them. Unfortunately the guy who runs the used boat parts store wasn’t interest so we’ll need to come up with a plan B.
While out I picked up the VHF cables I’d ordered earlier. Back on the boat I installed them. The stereo radio reception is now far better than we’ve ever had. Great.
Throughout the day Helen spent a lot of time clearing out the port bow locker. It had collected a lot of water. We’d fixed all the leaks a year ago. The anchor bridle came loose just before we left Fiji so we know that’s a possible ingress. But the amount of water in there was too much for this. It’s quite likely the hatch is leaking. So sorting out those leaks is now on the project list.
I also performed a few of my regular inspections. I checked all the shackles and the cable ties preventing them coming undone. I also checked the sail cars for any damage or loose screws. All was fine. I also struck a few items off my check list – all those to do with the hybrid system. No doubt, a few more items will be going on to do with the propulsion.
I had a few email exchanges throughout the day with the folks who sold me the AIS unit. Having first defensively claimed the unit was programmed correctly they then went on to ask about cabling, baud rates, etc. Kind of daft when it’s clear the boat name and station id are all coming through ok but the boat dimensions are coming through consistently wrong. I went along with their emails as we have to work out what the problem is. Either the unit was programmed incorrectly or the software is failing to read the dimensions or it’s something else. I should be able to read my own boat dimensions from the unit so something’s up. The best test will be to get someone to receive my AIS transmission and tell me what they see. Going to have to find someone to help.
We finished the day sharing a beer with the French and stretching our overlapping vocabulary. It again strikes me how poor the approach to teaching French was at school. At the end of the day it’s all about being able to communicate. Our collective conversation was grammatically horrendous and a total jumble of language. But we understood each other and that’s what mattered. They are both quite nice guys.
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