Yes, it's been slow. The more discouraging problem for us is that we have failed to complete a single task, since each completion leads to a roadblock of some kind. It's the nature of boat work in a foreign country, I know, but it's still a problem.

I've been chipping away at the network installation. I've finally completed connecting the basic network to power, so we can test our electronics: the Triton display works and the Zeus chart plotter works. The GPS/Compass is rail-mounted and I've yet to work on that. The AIS is now connected to power but I've not tested that. Perhaps I can do that today, although I know that the AIS works, I've not tested the NMEA2000 connection. I don't think that I did a great job in purchasing the NMEA2000 cables that I need, but the main problem was having no idea that we'd be installing a new network and these instruments this season, so we did no prior planning or measuring for the installation. I mean, who decided to install an entire set of new electronics without a bit of prior planning, and doing it in a foreign country where there's no way to buy anything that was forgotten? Conni and Bill.

The Raymarine-system depth sounder has been removed but we need to get the fairing block cut to the correct angle. Fortunately, we have both pieces of the recently removed one to use as a template. The anti-rotation bolt hole of the old unit needs to be filled and I'm going to hire it done. A 3/8-inch diameter hole cannot be simply filled with epoxy! The repair needs to look like a rivet, with large ends on inside and outside to prevent that narrow epoxy plug from being dislodged by water pressure. Once the old hole is filled, the new one drilled, and the fairing block sized, we can install the new sonar and have a task completed. The wiring inside the boat is ready for connection.

Then there's the radar... Pull the old cable up or down? From my position on the radar platform at the first spreaders, I've been completely unable to pull the cable from the mast. Unfortunately, in order to help pulling the cable upward, we pushed the cable remaining in the boat into the mast in preparation for removing out the top, but then when I was unable to move it, we couldn't remove the cable from the mast! Oh, NO! We worked for 6 hours yesterday, on our hands and knees because of the location of the exit hole in the mast, and finally got the cable free. It was a two-person operation, with Conni doing the brain work of finessing the location of the cable end. I spent my hours on hands and knees using a right-angle drill and burr grinder to remove enough aluminum from the mast exit hole so that we could remove that damned radar cable. We felt completely successful at day's end and all we had done was remove about 2-feet of radar cable from inside the mast!

I'd like to thank our sailing friend, John Baker, for recommending a small endoscope which has proven itself several times on this and several other tasks. It's a small, perhaps 1/4-inch-diameter camera at the end of a 15-foot flexible cable, that sends good color images via BlueTooth to my iPad. The camera has dimmable LEDs circling it so lighting is not a problem, although interpreting the images certainly is. The device allows seeing in places that would be impossible to view in any other way. Amazon, $25: what's not to like? Thanks, John.

Conni has dedicated her time to getting projects done when I need help and that has reduced her independent work, but she's still managed to scrap the teak cap rail in preparation for varnishing. It's more hands-and-knees work in the sun, so my thanks to her.

Evening Report: Our #1 project today was the radar, of course. I hoisted Conni to the radar platform where she cut the old radar cable and connected it to the new one so that, by pulling the old cable, we could simultaneously pull in the new. I worked on puling the connected cables through from below. We found an old photo on our site of the open end of the mast base, taken at the Alameda boat yard where we rebuilt the mast, so we knew how the cables were arranged. Conni, the Queen of Connecting Cables, flawlessly attached the new and old radar cables together and we were able to pull both inside the boat in no time. Hurray! Within an hour, we had the new cable pulled up into the binnacle where it can attach to our new chart plotter. I worked a few hours on wiring, and we departed the boat early.

Usually, we return to the bungalow by turning left out of the yard, but today, Conni turned right and drove us around the island. What a relief to take a break! Raiatea is such a gorgeous island and each part has it own charm and beauty. The west side is much less populated than the east, and it very interesting to see. Imagine, we did something other than work or be in the bungalow.

Tomorrow, I harness my climbing skills again and ascend to the radar platform where I'll remove the old radome, remove the adapter plate, fabricate a new plate, then re-ascend to install both the plate and radome. It'll be a busy day, but it will be satisfying.

Weather permitting and no insurmountable problems, talk to you tomorrow.