wegenering 

Morning Bogon:
Th author of that cruising guide is Don Douglas. I also carry a copy of another of his books:
http://www.amazon.com/Gps-Waypoints-British-Colum bia-Coast/dp/0938665502
Most of Wallace Island is dedicated Marine park so hopefully development will be limited to maintenance of the public access there. Panther Cove is open to the south east wind so we were lucky to have gentle north west flow.
Thank you for the wish. I think today is the official holiday.
The woodpecker at the hummingbird feeder was taken from the deck of a friend we stopped to visit on our way home yesterday.

Hi there SalishSeaSam:
The latest picture above was supposed to include the co ords but here they are:
48.933 N. 123.536 W.
You probably sailed near there before the days of GPS.
We realized we had been there (on Wallace) with the M.V. "Link" when our 40 year old daughters were about 4 or 6 years old. Too bad I did not blog nor carry an iPod back then, eh?
We could have seen "Then and now".

Morning Rob:
I'm not sure I'm past the problem of the charging - when the alternator was energized it must have gone into overload 'cause the batteries were so drained. There was a new rattle coming from that area. I will go check the status of the batteries, maybe swap out the alternator for the smaller spare and take the big one to the guy who rebuilt it last year. Fine B.C. Day so far - a bit of cloud and cooler than yesterday.
S.S. Sam:
I have been avoiding F.B. but it looks like I don't have much choice. 'Course this yere bloggin' business takes most of my computer time already.
Happy B.C. Day to you as well.

Monbiot today:
http://www.monbiot.com/2012/08/06/the-great-impos tors/

Where was I when I was so rudely interrupted by the need for sleep?
Oh yes:
Something about boats.
Funny thing happened on the way to the evening:
Tloml was off to pick up SIL at the local airport (that'd be YCD)and I come back from finding a fuel container for her to fill with gasoline for the boat and a phone message clicks off. Checked the latest incoming calls and hit the "Send" button. I thought it might be SIL or my daughter with updates on the very vague pickup plans but no: It's my buddy Jack trying to contact an electrician who stays here now and then and who also installed the battery switches on Jack's fishing boat. In the background the deckhand is grunting away and I can tell Jack wants to get this call over with so he can interfere with whatever the deckhand is grunting about so I found the electrician's phone number lickety- split and signed off. Came back up and was imagining what to write and the phone rings again.
It's the electrician in question. I said: "Did Jack call you?"
"No. Just checking in." (His lady is off in Alberta so he's bored, obviously.)
Now I'm thinkin': what are the chances that one guy calls looking for the other and within 10 minutes the guy we need calls me?
All the electrician wanted to know was what our plans were for our normal fall fishing visit.
So I picked his brain over the crackly phone connection about battery main switches because I spent this afternoon tracing voltage leaks and (hopefully) fixing the existing alternator on the boat. Turns out I need a more expensive Multimeter.
Who'da thunk that?

SSSam: I yearn to "Join" and "Friend" and whatnot but so far: this little blog of mine I'm gonna let it shine!

Hi Ylee:
Like the hired consultants in that article came back to report:
Some of this stuff is of infinite value!
'Course the powers that be can sharpen the pencil for the right buyer.
Gotta go check the cams now. I just spent the afternoon on my knees in the sun. No, I haven't yet found the religion that could make me want to do that: I just happen to own a boat.

Just in case it ain't over:
I unplugged the system about 1/2 hour ago because lightning hit so close I think I remember a bit of a hiss just before the BOOM. Don't see any damage but I have not been this close to lightning for many years.
Gonna try to upload some pictures of the clouds.

OrangeRoses:
If I was more careful I would not get up in the morning, work with power tools, drive a vehicle to work, mess around in boats or do anything I know a bit about how to. So I'm trapped:
"Whole Systemitis" was the diagnosis in the "Whole Earth Catalog" in the '70s.
Apparently there is no cure yet. Luckily most people are immune.
Still rumblin' sky around but no strikes near lately and this machine can be certified "OK" if this comment gets home.

Good afternoon:
Tracing wild currents:
I finally bought a new electrical "Multi-Meter" yesterday to try to figure out why the batteries on the boat discharged so quickly. I pushed the leads in to the
ports and one did not feel right. It also would not read unless you had a spare finger to put pressure on it. The auto/marine supply was out of good meters and I wanted one then not later so I bought the fool thing.
Cheap = Waste of money when it comes to tools. I bust the cheap one before I can touch it to the work. Luckily the other port was the one I really needed to measure amperage and it held together so I used it as was: one trick meter to test in line amps. I have another cheap voltmeter because it fits in my pocket so between the two throw aways I can do most tests I need.
I started checking at #2 battery and got fluctuating readings up to 1.5 amps. after an hour or so on my knees testing terminals I gave up and came home. Pulled the new toy apart and et voila:
The small cylinder that is supposed to connect to the lead had been badly soldered and was sliding around inside the toy. I could try re soldering it or just take the thing back to the supplier but I don't blame them. I blame a system which builds and sells poor quality items. And I blame myself for purchasing cheap.
Went back with my cheap tools and started tracing. Pulled the main feeds off each fuse box and found no wild current to any.
Now what?
I was out of beer (though there was some up in the pickup) so I just sat and smoked a cigarette and let the Alpha Waves do their thing.
Ah Ha!
One of the batteries is showing full voltage (12.9V) but the other was down around 12.3V. I had switched to
"Both" while testing the circuit. Checked it again with the switch only connecting the battery I wanted to test and there was no current.
The battery with the greater charge was feeding the one with the lower charge.
It doesn't take this guy long to catch on, eh?

Aye Rob:
I guess we need so many tools because we want so many things to work for us. I just went to the boat to start it and check batteries 'cause Daughter, Sil, and a couple of visitors are taking it to the island tonight.
I am learning, well trying to learn, to let go and allow them to make their own way.
I have to remind myself that when I first took off in an unknown boat no one was hovering over my shoulder except the Good Luck Fairy. It gives me shivers when I think what little I knew then and, come to think of it, what little I know now.
And I've done that type of thing too many times to imagine I'll ever learn not to just go.
Boldly.

Afternoon BriarCraft:
"Sounds like you've got rampaging amps or maybe it could be revolting volts. Can't be sure. Then again, it could be a hole in the wire covering that's letting the magic escape."
It happens that that quote sums up boat wiring as well as any advice I can find.
So far I have had enough knowledge or experience or just plain luck to keep the total of times I leave the dock balanced with the number of times I tie up again. Sometimes just barely though. What I'm trying very hard to do now is let the others, mainly my daughters and sons in law, solo.
It is not the boat that I worry about - there are too many boats out there I could buy for less than we put into renovations. It's mainly that I know too much about this particular boat and there is an urge to pass on that knowledge. When I start to give what I know the eyes of the listener glaze over. I try to keep it simple as in: "The ignition key is in the top drawer."

I'm making the call in the morning. I'm not an electrician but quite often I need to know if a circuit is hot or not and it's always good to have the capability to check battery status and continuity. My decent meter went sour when the display only showed a couple of numbers. I find I need every number available nowadays.

Tried to look up Fluke but nothing in Canada as near (far) as I can tell.
The stuff looks like the one I used for years.

Bogon:
Afternoon. I'll get one of the electricians I hire to recommend and maybe buy the item and I'll buy their hand me down. I worked in Albania for a while and needed a multimeter. The power "grid" there was fairly scary. I went to the street market 'cause there was no Home Depot. No multimeters that day but guess what: two days later every vendor had a couple of multimeters on display.
"Ask and yee shall receive" eh.

Pros: Thank you for brightening this place up. Don't know if I commented on your place but I'm checking now

Good morning here and afternoon there Sandi:
You and I are at the extremes on the blogs along with AussieStorms and Levi32. I have only Patrap so far as favorite because he took care of us when we blew in to his town. It's been a couple of years since we visited the U.K. and the family we stayed with in London is arriving in Vancouver today I think. Our plan is to make sure the couple and their two young boys have a good experience of B.C.
I might as well make your blog a favorite here since I read whatever you put up there anyway.
We had a wonderful trip to the U.K in the mid '80s: our two daughters were 9 and 12 years old. We had a list of relations and friends of friends and we drove around England, Scotland and Wales for about a month. We would check out an Hostel in a new town and then phone the people on our list near there to say hello. Generally they would insist that we stay with them.