ANOTHER PROBLEM. LIFTOFF SCRUBBED - AGAIN

It blew like stink all day Thursday. It started to calm down by sunset. We
don't mind being at anchor. Hearing the wind roaring and Vagari swinging
back and forth is a little nerve wracking but we enjoyed the down time after
the rush of getting ready for sea. So we waited until after the Friday
morning radio nets to go into the marina. The weather predictions looked
good for a Sunday crossing.

We planned a Saturday afternoon departure and a Sunday crossing if the
weather continued to looked OK. I had trouble getting the weather Saturday
because of poor propagation but I finally got enough info and it looked like
a go.

On the 1¼ mile trip into the marina the autopilot stuck in the "engaged"
mode i.e. it wouldn't release control of the steering. I muscled it free
but we heard a "clunk" when it released control.

The heart of that system is under our bunk. To get access, all the bedding,
including the mattress must be removed from the aft stateroom. I hate to do
that after Rhea has made the bed, so first thing Saturday after the nets we
took a look at the system. I found one of the two bolts that hold the
autopilot steering arm to the rudderpost had broken. Worse, even with all my
bolt removal tricks, oil, drilling it out, and "easy outs" I couldn't get
the broken part out.

I asked one of the dock workers where I could find a machine shop. He
showed me on our Guaymas map. It was in the neighborhoods. Neighborhood
trips are always an adventure (think of roads almost too rough for our truck
and only occasional street signs painted on the side of buildings. Usually
on corner buildings but not always). We found a machine shop, not the one I
was told about, and the owner spoke some English. One hundred pesos, 15
minutes, and many "por favors & gracias" later we were good as new.

With the system back together we tested the "disengage" function. No joy. So
Rhea muscled the wheel putting great strain the autopilot. It did
"disengage" but now I understood why the bolt broke.

Reading the manuals, trouble shooting and installation guides didn't help.
So I called technical support - closed until Monday.

Se here we are stuck, missing our weather window but enjoying ourselves.
Remember cruisers schedules are written in the sand at low tide.

_________________________________________________________________
Exercise your brain! Try Flexicon.

http://games.msn.com/en/flexicon/default.htm?icid=flexicon_hmemailtaglinemarch07