Well this job has definitely turned into a longer, more complex one than anticipated - but then don't they usually! Notwithstanding, we are pretty content with the line and look of the top as it's shaping up. We've had a good run of dry, clear weather which has made the work quite efficient and pleasant for all concerned.
It's just not possible to take a sleek, curved and relatively elegant canvas and stainless cover and replace it with a rigid, GRP house without losing some of the lines we loved, but Kevin has done a great job of shaping the various intersecting and sometimes competing curves into a coherent whole.
We have taken the targa arch and the blank off, and Kevin is crafting final detail and adding a small rain gutter to the outboard edges in the workshop.
Poor old "Destiny" looks like someone has given her a bad haircut with a chainsaw, open cockpit exposing the liferaft and helming station to the world. So uncomfortable are we with this strange appearance that we won't show you a picture of it!
We have decided to fit LED lights inside the roof of the cover - Kurt at Electric Boat Parts was his usual knowledgeable and helpful self, showing us a good range of options. From these we chose some quite compact but bright Hella lights, which have a reasonably good range of illumination, unlike many LEDs which are sometimes very directional. While we were at Kurt's showroom we picked up some very nice-looking Italian cabin fans to fit while we are alongside. Additionally, some new stereo speakers will go at the aft end of the roof to replace the rather ancient-looking ones we have currently on the bulkhead of the cockpit.
John ran cabling to hook up the AIS to the Raymarine C120W and it works very nicely, with a good audible alarm with a flexible Range of Safety setting. We must say, however, that the AIS interface on the Australian Navy "Endeavour" program, which we have until now used to navigate, is definitely a more graphic and intuitive add-on.
Fortunately, the Comar AIS we have has two outputs - one USB for the laptop running "Endeavour", and an NMEA 0183 to inform the C120W. So we have complete redundancy and independence of the two systems - PC and Raymarine. Speaking of "Endeavour" - our licence dongle, which is now a little over 4 years old, broke in two pieces - the tail came away from the USB end: the active portion of the dongle is a small button inside the casing - to get a new plastic casing to put the button in costs $110!!! Thanks a lot, Australian Navy Hydrographic Office.
There are a few more progress photos of our progress in the gallery - click here to view them.
Cheers for now from us!