Teamwork

I solved the problem of potentially having to get all scrunched up in the lazarette laying the long GPS cable for the AIS... Nicky volunteered for the task. On account of her superior sailing qualifications (and flexibility) it was one of those "never look a gift horse in the mouth" moments!  Joking aside, it does highlight the teamwork.

We regularly see yachts sailing with just male crews onboard, usually made up of the owner plus friends moving the yacht to somewhere nice where 'Mrs' flys in and embarks.  It is unusual for a gentleman to be sailing with a lady who is more qualified in sailing matters - I definitely feel privileged.


When asked I generally sum the balance of workload up as, "Nicky prefers to do the tricky navigation and I prefer to steer in the rain and fix things" - potentially a perfect division of labour.  But, as fitting the AIS illustrates, we regularly get amongst each others 'areas of expertise' to maintain the balance.

This is me securing and wiring in the AIS as well as tidying up the NMEA network wiring.

The AIS fitting went very well and the AIS unit now shows the all important green light demonstrating that it is very happy; properly configured, transmitting and receiving okay and that its GPS is working.  Proper geeky stuff, but a result!

However, the ship's computer wasn't talking to the AIS apparently because some 'drivers' that hadn't loaded properly.  I'd configured the AIS with the MMSI number and BV's dimensions using my Mac at home.  Simply plugged it in and it worked; Macs are good like that.  The PC onboard, however, seems to be more temperamental.  I do remember seeing a Tech Note from the manufacturer that might help so will work on that at home and hopefully all will be well on our next visit to BV with a picture of what the AIS is 'seeing' displayed on the computer screen.