We have the AIS installed and see targets on the chart plotter. Scott spent the day head down and not breaking until this was accomplished. Me, I went to the grocery store and stayed out of the way. Working on a boat is like watching sausage being made, not a good sight to see but excellent results!

The decision of SSB or sat phone has been resolved with the ordering of an Icom 802. I think the end result will be more cost effective then the sat phone although there are merits to that as well. We had been given a brand new still in the box M800 radio that we were going to hook up as the SSB and use a sat phone for email/weather. But as someone knowledgeable in SSB told us, the fiber optic cable was missing which renders the whole radio useless.

So we have three major installs to complete. The solar panels which arrive tomorrow, the SSB which should be here about the time the solar panels are installed next week and then the completion of the watermaker. The watermaker was half installed last year but then put on hold so we could leave for the summer. Scott is dreading this as it has managed to challenge him to his core and he has wished, prayed and hoped that the magic Fairies would swoop in and complete it for him. He even hired someone to help but he quit before he even started. Somehow it will get done!