Saturday, Richard, our hired help and friend, arrived at the boat about 1030 hours to complete his work. He had fabricated his "top hat", as he called it because of its shape. He was describing the insert that protected the autopilot drive's motor where it protrudes into the stern anchor locker. The hat part protrudes and the brim of the "hat" is the flange on the autopilot side. We used epoxy to protect the now-exposed edges of the plywood into which we cut the hole, then we got the insert in place with some screws and caulk. Into the bracket extension that I and LaVerne had fabricated, Richard had added some holes for mounting the drive in a new location from the planned one. He had also fabricated some blocks that elevated the drive and kept the drive as level as possible. I'll post photos of the project.

I have two tasks remaining to complete the autopilot. The autopilot needs to be wired and a few of the metal parts re-painted. Wiring entails checking the existing wire from the previous autopilot and adding what's needed for the new unit. The rudder indicator needs to be mounted, attached to the rudder, and wired to the network. My solution for connecting the rudder indicator to the rudder arm is to use JB Weld (a very strong 2-part epoxy for metal repair)! LaVerne fabricated a small part that can be epoxied to the rudder arm and I'll epoxy that part to the rudder arm and attach the indicator to it. That's the plan, anyway. Regardless, we're closing on the end of the autopilot installation project, an event that I doubted that I'd ever see. Last night, I was so tired that I fell asleep at 8PM and didn't awaken until 7AM this morning. I think it was simple relief to be nearing the completion of the project.

Saturday, I also installed the round wire that connects a solar panel to the new solar panel controller. The effort entailed installing a "cable clam", a small device that attaches to the transom and provides a waterproof pass through the hull. As it turns out, a cable clam can only take a round wire and for most duplex (two wires inside one sheath), the wire is side-by-side, so I had to locate some uncommon round wire for this project.

It's the second cable clam that I've installed this trip so I have regained the knack of installing them. Drilling precise holes in the boat for mounting the cable clam is part of the problem, drilling a properly-sized hole in the rubber seal (more like a large rubber stopper) is another, and using a rat-tail file to enlarge a hole drilled in the fiberglass transom using the largest bit that I have is a final issue. The cable is almost 1/2-inch, so I had to drill as large a hole as possible, then use that rat-tail file to enlarge both the hole in the fiberglass and in the rubber. I took the easy way and mounted the rat-tail into my electric drill: worked well! On Sunday I connected the controller to the battery bank. I'll wait until the solar panels are mounted to attach the new round cable that exits the cable clam, to the cables that attach to the solar panels themselves.

With Richard and I monopolizing the cockpit, Conni's possible activities were severely limited, but she still got the steering wheel repair completed and several repairs on teak cap rail completed.

Today is Sunday and we did work a few hours, then took a drive around the entire island. Even at a moderate road speed of 35mph, it required only 2-1/2 hours. It was a nice break and we didn't mention the boat once.

Work today entailed wiring the solar controller to the batteries and planning the final wiring from the panel to the solar controller. That awaits us tomorrow.

This the twelfth day, making this the Twelfth Night. Significant?