Good Friday, yes it is!

Another day broke blue, clear and 6 degrees. The mornings still get very chilly, yet by lunch time you are shedding jumpers and looking for shade in a nice 22 degrees. Today is Good Friday, start of the long weekend......for Aussies! But not here, today everything was open and everyone was working?! We were expecting that we would get nothing sorted today because everyone would be shut. But Geoff found out that bar Sunday when some people go to Church and take half a day off...it's business as normal. Which is great for us!

So, Geoff got stuck into the dilemma that is/was the Auto steering system and by 10.30 am, we had returned the S1 unit to an understanding dealer and purchased the wizz bang S1G Linear drive unit from another dealer (because he is free to install it sooner) - top of the range, for boats up to 9000 kg. Which is about right for us, loaded up with cruising gear and provisions. The Technician will install it asap for us. The treat is that it being a Linear system which is below deck on the steering quadrant, is it will be much quieter and stronger than the wheel drive unit. And the blurb says faster with new computer technology that means it has a memory and a pre-emptive ability. The action happened pretty quickly once the decision was made and the techie was out to see us and measure up before lunch. See, now all seems right in the world again. Geoff even successfully fixed the engine exhaust blower!! So now our aft cabin won't smell of diesel! A good Friday - all round.

Tonight seems somehow more peaceful. We have knocked off 85% of the items on that BIG list I posted and although we still have a fair bit to go.....our ETD of around 10th April seems possible. Well.... more possible than it did yesterday!! Here's hoping that all the parts arrive promptly that are needed for the installation of the Autohelm.

Our Water maker turned up this afternoon too! This is the ex government Katadan Survivor 35 unit, which is the same unit the US Army uses. It turned up a lot quicker than I thought and it looks really good. Sea Otter carries about 320 litres of water in her tanks and we will carry and extra 100 litres in jerry cans. So far we have been using the two full tanks for 21 days and we have not emptied them!! I think our indicator light shows us with about 1/4 left in the last tank. That is heaps better than what we carried on Timana. Considering we have had a few showers on board and are using the water pretty much as we would at home....well it looks good for holding us through the 30 plus days on passage.

So overall a much needed day of action and results. It feels good to be back on track and not so dejected. In fact Geoff is asking if I want to go to San Fran again tomorrow, maybe try and catch the San Francisco Giants playing baseball!!