Monterey

We've arrived in Monterey.  It was a long 12 hour day of motoring, all the while hand steering.  Fortunately, the seas were flat, which facilitated maintaining a stable boat heading.  Winds came up to a respectable level only has we approached the harbor, so no sailing today.  Had we had any wind, we could have sailed and used the wind vane to steer the boat.

We had removed the hydraulic ram for our auto pilot while in San Francisco to have a progressively worsening hydraulic leak repaired.  The folks at Svendsens in Alameda did an amazing job of getting it done in less than 24 hours.  The cause of the problem turned out to be a small piece of paint from the units casing that had some how worked its way up into the ram and under the seal.  The fix was simply removing the ovending piece of paint and reassembling the unit.  The seal was not damaged.

That was the good news.  What I thought would be a simple re-install turned out otherwise.  Apparently in the process of removing the unit, the rudder reference unit (an electronic device that tells the auto pilot computer what position the rudder is in, an important part of the operation) wiring was twisted internally to the unit rendering it inoperable.  This we determined after multiple phone calls to B & G and various attempts to get it to work.  I'm learning how to use a multimeter.  In the end, we packaged the unit up and set it Fedex to Janets brother in southern California who owns and operates an electronics shop.  Miraculously, he was able to gain access to the internal portion of the unit and  make repairs, something B & G said couldn't be done.  He is some kind of a miracle worker.  We are expecting the unit to arrive here in Monterey this morning at 10:30  AM.  It should be a relitively simple reinstall and then we will need to recommision the pilot, which the manual explains in very logical steps.

Assuming all of that goes well, we will enjoy what Monterey has to offer.  Among other things a farmers market on Tuesday, that's today, and a walk up to Trader Joe's.  Looking at the offshore weather, we may stay three nights to allow a passage around Cape Conception in slightly lighter conditions a bit later in the week.  Monterey is a pretty cool place to hang out, so a few days here will be good.

Mama otter cuddeling and licking her baby.

The docks at Monterey Harbor.