Because I am getting close to shipping Altere home, I have begun to think about which projects I should work on here and what I should defer until I am home. Cruising without a depth sounder makes me very uncomfortable. I could do it, but I really like accurate data about the depth of water where I drop my anchor. I like to circle a spot, sort of like a dog before it lies down, to get an idea of depths all around. I want to avoid waking up aground because the wind or current swung the boat in a different direction.

I ordered a new transducer for my depth sounding system. After considerable investigation, it was clear that I had power to my instruments and to the depth and wind transducers at the bottom and top of the boat respectively. My working theory was that the near miss lightning strike in Puesta del Sol fried those devices. Because whoever installed the transducer removed the tag on the cable that identifies the specific model I am replacing, I can only hope that the replacement I ordered will work.

The new transducer was ordered and shipped to an agent that then ships it to Costa Rica and shepherds it through customs. Then it was sent via bus to Liberia and picked up by the Marina manager. Because of the Christmas holidays, this process took almost two weeks.

In order to replace it while the boat is in the water, I had to remove the old one (pictured), leaving an open hole in the boat through which sea water will gush. Then I quickly put the new one in the same hole and screw on a cap nut to hold it in place. I reassured myself about this process by watching a YouTube video of someone else replacing one. If I ordered the wrong replacement and it did not fit, I could put the old one back in.

It had been hot and humid here in Costa Rica and I was to have crew joining me. So I began a project to wire electricity to two fans on the starboard side of the boat to add comfort. I shared in an early post that cruising has been defined as “fixing your boat in exotic locations”. In places like this one cannot run back and forth to the marine store to get parts. I found some marine cable in Playa Cocos and then spent the best part of a day feeding the wire along the starboard side. This kind of work is easy if you are a midget with six foot long arms and tiny strong fingers. Once I got the wiring done, I discovered that one of the fans did not work, so I ordered a new one for my crew to bring from the US.

Every cruiser confronts similar challenges. Things break down, parts are hard or impossible to find. Sometimes the only way to get replacements is to have someone bring them. Hardware stores and chandleries are often far away. Sometimes, one has to walk a long way, take an Uber or taxi, or in this case use a rental car.

On the plus side, people are very helpful. I was lucky to get consultation from a fellow cruiser, Bob Davis, to figure out what I needed.

I replaced the old transducer and the system did not work. At that point, Bob and I bypassed the wire run and connected the transducer directly to the display instrument. It worked. The problem was in the wiring, not in the transducer. But I did not have enough cable to properly connect it and, of course, no way to get it in Costa Rica quickly.

I had ordered a backup, cheap handheld depth sounder made for kayaks and small boats. My crew brought this and the replacement fan.

At least when the fan was installed, it worked.