Not a lot of progress today. I feel like I’m Don Quixote tilting at imaginary things.
When we started the work to look at the depth sensor and water speed sensor, we took a panel off the bulkhead at the companionway in order to trace the wires up to the three instruments that are there. The top instrument, it turns out, was only there to keep the water from coming in through the hole – there were no wires going to it. The middle instrument had wires going to it, but the instrument itself is so damaged that it basically is useless. The bottom instrument is multi-functional and can display water speed and depth. it was even hooked up to the two sensors and working fine. I need that instrument to translate the sensor signals into data that the chart plotter and other instruments can read and display.
In the process of tracing the wires, we removed a plastic plug from the back of the multi function display that (theoretically) acted as a water seal, which I don’t care about since if there’s water getting to that part of the instrument, then the boat is sinking and the water level is already up over the decks. More importantly, though, that cap acted as a strain relief for the wires so that they’re not pulling on their connection to the internal parts of the instrument. That is kind of important.
We finished all the work on the instrument and are reassembling it and, well, that plastic cap is gone. I’ve been searching for it for the last 3 days and I can’t assemble the last bits until I find it, or McGuyver up some other way of taking the strain off. Then I can put the panel back, mount the arm that the Radar display is now going to swing on, and then Bob’s Your Uncle and that job gets crossed off the list. But I can’t find that plastic cap. Maybe Tuesday I’ll accuse the mechanic of falling in love with my plastic cap and eloping with it.
Another task that has me stymied are the safety lines. They need replacing. I have the Dyneema line to replace them. I have the time to work on it, since I can’t find that plastic cap. What I can’t find are my “fids”, which are the tools used to splice lines together (in this case to make loops in the dyneema). I know I packed them, but I can’t find them anywhere.
GRRRR this is frustrating!