After 2 more days resting and catching up on sleep, today I set out to track down a seeming short circuit in the Autohelm 7000 autopilot. the procedure was fairly logical - eliminate each circuit one at a time. Well, after a whole day trying, I have more questions and no answers.

If any of you reading this know anything about this autopilot, perhaps you could help. The short shows up as a blown fuse every time it is switched on, except if the clutch AND the motor wires are disconnected from the Autohelm computer terminal strip. This indicates a short in either the motor or the clutch or both - but! this should only show up when the unit is asked to steer, that is, when power is applied to the motor. Not the case.

The control head shows NO display at all, and the "beep" does not sound, as it normally would, when the unit is switched on. Is the fault in the computer portion of the unit? If so, is it fixable?

After checking out the broken Monitor paddle, I see it is the welds that have given way; this should be repairable in Nuku Hiva, about 120 miles from here. We will leave here in a couple of days, stopping only at Tahuata for a day or two before going to Nuku Hiva. Perhaps we will find someone who can fix he Autohelm there.