The weather was beautiful today, sunny, 10C (50F), and I couldn't resist going for an ATV ride.

I saw a moose on the road, but couldn't get the camera out in time. It's in a padded case in a ziploc bag (for dust) in the storage compartment.

At Tides Point lighthouse, some goats came over to check me out. Some of them actually climbed up on the ATV while I was sitting on it, which was interesting, but my camera's lens wasn't wide enough to show it well.

Just inside the entry to the pilothouse is the navigation table. Originally a chart table, now that I mostly navigate with the chart plotter, paper chart navigation is either done here, or on the main table, depending on the size of the chart.

The instrument panel is on a hinge, and swings so it is visible from outside. Little ropes go to little cleats to adjust the position of the panel. The instruments are inside the boat to keep them out of the weather--though most are water-resistant, I'd hate to test exactly how resistant they are with a big wave.

On the left, at the top is the VHF radio/AIS receiver, under that is the GPS, under that is the Radar Detector.

In the center at the bottom is the Radar. Above the Radar are some printed tables, one shows decimals of nautical miles to metres and feet (this is because the anchor alarm on the GPS uses decimal miles, so you need to know how large a swing radius in decimal miles is [ie 0.03 miles is 56m]).

Beside that table is a table showing how much extra distance is traveled by being off course. This is used to figure out, if we change course by X degrees to get more speed (better wind angle), is the greater speed more than the greater distance that needs to be sailed by being off course.

On the right is the Depth Sounder / Fish Finder, with art underneath. Below the panel is the chartplotter. The (paper) logbook normally sits on the table in front of the chartplotter, but isn't in the photo.

Below the table are the engine controls, a voltmeter (showing 26.31 volts), spare radio and navigation-related books.

Hulya Leigh of Naviga, the Turkish sailing magazine, published an interview with me, and an imaginary interview with my great-uncle, Huberht Hudson (he was the Navigating Officer on Ernest Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic Expedition).

The article is published in the March and April issues of Naviga magazine.

A copy of the article, with English translations, is at https://www.issuma.com/rhudson/issumaboat/media/Naviga2022/PublishedAndEnglishTranslations.html

This is a view inside Issuma's pilot house, on the starboard side, showing the galley (kitchen). The photograph on the wall is of South Georgia. Behind the counter is Sarah's painting of Issuma sailing in Antarctica.

On the right, beside the propane stove, you can just see part of an orange float coat in the hanging locker.

The picture isn't wide enough to show much of the sink on the left, but it has fresh water and seawater supplied by foot pumps.

It's been cold lately, but a Violent Storm from the South today and tomorrow is going to warm the area up enough to melt all the snow.
A Violent Storm is a term used for wind speeds one step below Hurricane Force.

There's a nice trail nearby which was the old road to Duricle. Now it's mostly used for ATVing and hiking.

This is one of the creeks that the trail passes near, in the process of freezing up on a chilly winter afternoon.

A spliced loop in the end of a rope is called an eye splice. The inset picture in the upper left corner of the photo shows what it looks like when finished.

Making a splice in double-braided rope is complicated. Double-braided rope has an outer "cover" and an inner "core".

You pull the core out of the cover, taper it, put the cover inside the core and the core back inside the cover. I haven't made a lot of these, so I still use the instruction book, seen at top.

Beside the book is a pile of yarns that have been cut from the core to taper the core. They will be discarded.

Below the book is an aluminum fid with a hollow end which is used to help get the cover inside the core and vice versa.

The sailmakers palm is for pushing the sail needle through the rope. There is a white yarn and a red yarn that I've removed from the cover, which will be sewn through the rope to help make the splice small.

The marker pen is used to mark certain places on the rope, as measurements are critical for this splice.

The knot in the rope is to keep the core and cover from moving while making the splice--the knot is removed later.

The mug of tea is required, because what kind of splice would it be without a cup of tea?

The cold NW wind is howling, the constant rain of the last two days has gone, and outside, the soft light of morning shines on the west side of Little Bay.

With a gale and freezing spray warning, it's too cold to fly the drone (bare fingers get cold too quickly), but a good time for taking pictures.

The entrance to the interior of Issuma is through the doghouse. You can sit in the doghouse, look around in all directions, and maintain a watch if the weather conditions are nasty outside.

The doghouse is made of stainless steel angle, welded to the cabintop. The windows are 12mm (1/2") clear polycarbonate (Lexan), and the top is 25mm (1") plywood.

The dark grey stuff is styrofoam insulation that covers all the stainless steel. There is a thin film of plastic covering the windows which is also for insulation (the plastic film is only there in winter).

There is a brown (varnished) wooden handhold near the bottom of the picture.

On the starboard side is the ship's plant, Rover, and my mobile phone. There is much better cellular reception in the doghouse (away from the steel hull) than down below, so this is where the phone lives when in places with weak cellular signals.

Little Bay on a light wind day.

Yesterday was the first time I'd flown a drone from a boat underway (I have flown it from Issuma at anchor). Landing a drone on a boat underway is more complicated--there are things to avoid hitting, wind gusts raise and lower the drone, and it's not waterproof.

The drone has a return-to-home feature that will automatically fly it back to the GPS position it started from if signal is lost, or battery is low, but a moving boat has left the GPS position the drone was launched from, so returning would land the drone in the water.

Landing on a sailboat underway seems quite complicated, with needing to avoid rigging wires and also needing to consider the air currents off the sails.

So I'm still learning :)