A quiet, relaxed day at anchor doing routine chores and getting organized for some bigger tasks over the next few days.

The cloud cover has resulted in no solar recharge, so it's a good thing the generator is now working. I spent a couple of hours reading my various technical books about battery charging, and have decided to attempt to keep them at 80% of fully charged as much as possible. With no sun this will mean running the generator at night while we watch a movie and make water.

Time will tell if this works or not.

I have also started into the somewhat difficult task of installing a temperature and oil pressure guage within the cockpit. These instruments need to be visible, illuminated at night, and not interfere with the "idiot lights" that come standard with the boat. Simply disconnecting the lights results in loud alarm buzzing, and I prefer a fully redundant system.
The space available is very limited and the access to it very difficult unless you are two feet tall with six foot long arms.... another project!

A long walk on the beach.... dinner last night with friends to decorate a wonderful Christmas tree, two hours spent adding distilled water to the numerous lead-acid batteries on board... I used more than a gallon of water topping things up, updating maintenance records, and slowly trying to shake off the hustle and bustle of North American life, and get into the "island time" where things can get done slowly and well, and one has the opportunity to relax and enjoy the process, rather than to rush to complete one task so as to rush to the next one.... it'll take some time to slow done after the busy autumn we've had...

I hear the snow has arrived in Ottawa and that the cold is on the way as well..... happy I'm not there to enjoy it!

glen