L'Eau Commotion Westabout

7.00pm Friday 13th April 2018 ( UTC-3 )

It's not over yet but on a day when every old salt is on his guard and of course adamant that no rash undertakings, such as leaving port, are even considered, everything has run along smoothly. The state of play. I have the Onwa chart plotter transmitting and receiving AIS data which is a great comfort. There are literally hundreds of fishing vessels - squid jiggers, long liners and trawlers within a hundred miles of Stanley and they are Big. 75 to 80 metres is the norm and to give you an idea of the size they will unload 2000 tonnes of frozen fish at a time to the waiting freezer ships anchored in Stanley's outer harbour, Port William. These vessels often have lots of bright working lights so small vessels just cannot be seen through the glare and the AIS can show both the fisher and the sailer each other's position. The Echomax X radar enhancer is here and all the fittings and switches have been procured ( a polite way of saying begged borrowed or stolen ) . The task of fitting and wiring should take a competent electrical fitter two hours so I will be most pleased if I can get it done in a day. The Watt & Sea turbogenerator likewise is here and the support blocks bolts and fuses are all to hand. Typically a nice easy paced Facebook video would show the task finished in five minutes so I'm hoping to get that done in a day also. I have shifted over to the North side of Stanley Harbour to The Camber which is the enclosed harbour formerly used by the British Navy as a coaling station. It is fully protected from winds from any direction and was quite comfortable in 60+ knot gusts last week. It also has a small marina style dock which will be useful to fit the hydrogenerator on the transom. On the trip of less than a mile the autopilot was engaged and seems to be working smoothly. I'm hoping to have the rigging fittings here by Monday and the mast out next week to check the wiring and install a good LED tricolour mast head light, so if all goes to plan I should be on my way to Southport within the fortnight. The weather here of course is varied. Yesterday strong winds rain and hailstorms. Today all sunshine and gentle breezes so a great day to walk around this picturesque town shopping for gear, chatting to people you meet along the way and dropping in to Bob and Janet for a cup of coffee and coming away with a cabbage and a perfect brand new drop in replacement for a rather sus distribution panel; to Andrez for some home baked bread and beautifully roasted leg of mutton sandwiches for lunch and finish making and drilling the Hydrogenerator supports, to the FIC West store for really good value and tasty mutton mince and beef sausages to go with Janet's spuds and kale; and a gentle motor across the dead still Stanley Harbour to spend the weekend away from the hustle and bustle. LG. Life's Good.