Good Spirits Befall
24 May 2015 | Ilot Maitre near Noumea
Monday 25 May 2015
Just prior to this passage had installed controller in wind generator line to divert excess power into heating water. Worked fine for a few hours then nada. After arrival dug down under forward bunk and attempted to replace blown fuse with shocking results, then disassembled boat from batteries to controller to discover the unit had shorted out - brand new, expensive. Golly darn or stronger words to that effect. Rewired straight through until second, brand new, expensive component can be obtained.
For those Jonesing to hear about spinnaker halyard.. (well you're going to hear anyway) re-reeved the thing and confirmed suspicion that splice was culprit. Sheave, in good nick, is just right size for line which runs fair by headstay gear. Nothing can possibly go wrong now.
Southeast trades re-asserted, albeit a bit stronger than forecast, so decided to return Ilot Maitre tonight before going into inner harbor tomorrow morning for clear-in. Holiday revelers with same idea have packed the anchorage and many dozens of surfer kites (the boards foil now and it's amazing) are buzzing over the island like hungry flies on a fresh cowpie. All should be gone sometime this evening so we can comfortably dinghy in to resort happy hour and spend Polynesian francs left from Tahiti: 12,200 maybe 10 USD. Also have pantload of Euro and card so tolerably confident happiness will ensue.
Jack