You will notice when you open this page that our blog now has the facility to show our position via the map on the right hand side of the page. By clicking on any of the little position dots it will automatically take you to the entry for that date.

We also now have a photo gallery. You can click on the link on this page and go to the gallery. From time to time we'll add photos to the gallery. We can only do this via the internet which means a shore based connection, although we can now submit our blog entries in plain type over the email on board from any location.

A lot of people have commented on our Monitor wind vane so I have started the gallery with some technical photos for those who are interested (as distinct from bare breasted Polynesian beauties and stunning sunsets that we hope to find in the Marquesas). The big difference with our installation is that we had the Monitor people supply us with a gate that holds the vane. When we are at anchor we can open the gate and the entire vane swings aside allowing us to use the aft boarding ladder and swim platform. It's a fantastic innovation for yachts with a swim platform. The thing under the cover is our marine bar-b-que. Oh, we also had Monitor supply us with an emergency rudder that attaches to the vane frame in case we lose our main rudder.

Well, it's getting down to the wire now with only a week and a half before we set off in the Baja Ha Ha. Debbie's sister and her husband have arrived in San Francisco and are currently driving down the 101 to join us in San Diego next week. They will be with us for four weeks.

I have spent the last two days installing an upgraded Balmar high output alternator and external regulator. We purchased a freezer when we got back to San Diego (we need the ice for the Margaritas) so need the extra grunt from the alternator to compensate for the extra power draw. I have completely rewired the cabling to the batteries and installed a battery combiner. This means we can have the engine battery and the house bank (880 amp hours of golf cart batteries) turned on all the time. When there is a charging source (from the solar panels, alternator or inverter) both banks are charged but as soon as the charging source is removed the batteries automatically separate so there is no chance of unexpectedly drawing down on the start battery.

We had rain a few nights ago which is the first rain we have had since moving aboard. It was good because it showed up a few minor leaks around some of the opening portlights. Good to know about those now rather than finding out about it in the middle of the Pacific. I removed all the offending ports and re-bedded them with 4000 Sikaflex..

There was someone out there who posted a comment on this site but it has somehow disappeared. It was from a person who was planning to bring a Catalina 470 across to Australia via Hawaii. If you are still out there drop me an email at our hotmail address so we can stay in touch.

Well, it's that time of the evening (second glass of fine Californian red wine before dinner) so I'll close here. Hope you enjoy the improvements to the site. As we make our way across the Pacific my plan is to submit daily position reports around 1200 noon local time so that those who are interested can see our position and read first hand the fun and games of a long distance, short handed passage.