The other day when I wrote excitedly about a Crescent Moon some may recall I mentioned it was a harbinger of new, good things to come. Following that post I find the need to rephrase that a wee bit, namely take out the �"good things�" part. Let me explain. Following that post we were motor sailing in very light winds and the engine oil pressure alarm sounded. Certainly not a sign of good things happening. Shut down the engine right away, opened the engine compartment and checked the oil. Seems most of it had disappeared. Also, not a sign of good things. On further examination there appeared to be an excessive amount of oil outside the engine in one particular place. Not a puddle representing the three gallons or more that disappeared but enough to cause a closer look. The oil appeared to be coming from a small canister shaped device, located in a very difficult place to get at. There were references to the oil pressure sensing switch, but no diagrams or photos; process of elimination convinced me it was said sensing switch. We put three gallons of motor oil in the engine and started it to see if in fact that was where the oil had leaked out. It was. The way the device was assembled; i.e. attached to a copper tube coming out of the engine block with a compression nut attaching the copper tube to the fitting, it seemed we could remove the leaky device, plug the copper tube and be on our way. Easier said than done. This is a part that is never serviced and like all engines, when it was built one of the final tasks is to spray some very hard paint on all the parts. To make a very long story short, the harder we tried to unbolt the fitting the less likely it seemed we would get it off. Steve, part of our crew for this trip and a really good guy was helping and between the two of us we managed to break the copper tube right at the point it went into the block. As all sailors never through anything away I happen to have three large (Costco Mixed Nuts) jars full of nuts, bolts and screws. We found several of suitable size and several hours later we had firmly screwed a self-tapping screw covered with plumbers�' tape into th e inside of the copper tube remaining inside the block. Presto, no more oil leak and since it was the pressure sensor, initially we had no more oil pressure gauge or any other instruments. Before starting off again we decided to take a short break during which Steve decided to fulfil either a lifetime dream or bucket list item and swim in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Of course, we egged him on, suggesting he was great chum for sharks and other predators but to no avail. In he went, having as much fun as a kid at Christmas. Michelle, his wife and the rest of our crew, dutifully recorded the entire event. It was quite a sight. Actually, Steve had told me before we left that swimming mid Pacific was something he really wanted to do and I had promised to accommodate him if at all possible. The oil leak was not what I had in mind. Sounds like the successful end to another saga at sea. Not quite. After the swim and getting under way, I took a nap. A bit later I was checking on things and noticed, with a bit of alarm that we not only had no engine instruments but our alternators were not working. Not a sign of good things. After thinking about it for a bit I recalled the oil pressure sensor was connected to a brown and white wire, and if memory served me correctly, that was used to power the voltage regulator and served as a delay in loading the engine by waiting until full oil pressure was reached before loading the engine with the alternators. Took the ignition switch panel off and shortly found that the regulator had two sources of power, the ignition switch itself and the oil pressure sensor. Just for the hell of it I unplugged the oil pressure gauge and presto, all the instruments worked and the alternators were charging. Now that was a sign of good things happening from a crescent moon. Mor e later�...�...�...�...�...�...�...