Electrical

• Electrical monitor - Ample Power EMON II: In general, I have been very happy with this but recently had a problem with it. The batteries had been charged during the day but then during the night, an alarm went off, actually the 50% and 20% Remaining alarms both went off - these were erroneous since I knew that I had much more than 50% capacity left. When I contacted the dealer, Jack Rabbit Marine (where I bought it and lots of other equipment and a company that I've always been happy to deal with) I was told that they couldn't help because Ample Power had canceled their contract as a dealer. They suggested I contact the manufacturer. I was very dissappointed since I wanted to continue to use Jack Rabbit but I contacted Ample Power and they said that the microprocessor was having a 'overload' since the battery charge had never fallen below 50%. I never allow the batteries to fall that low. Anyway, they suggested that I simply disconnect the power to the monitor and that would clear the error condition. This had also happened about 2 years ago and I think I had done the same thing then. I suppose I can look forward to doing this again in 2 more years.
• Voltage regulator - Ample Power NextStep: Again, I'm generally happy with this although I never could get it to work properly when powered through the ignition switch as its supposed to be. I had another problem however when the field wire on the alternator vibrated off and I mistakenly assumed that the regulator was 'fried.' It turned out that the fuse from the positive distribution post to the regulator's B+ terminal was blown - that's what provides power to the alternator field to energize it. Of course, the error message (a series of lights) indicated only 'Can't turn on field.'
• Wireless Internet: I bought a Linksys USB network adaptor but am still having a problem. It seems that the card is very powerful and the power supplied by the laptop isn't sufficient. (I tried another, older adaptor and it worked fine.) I tried an external, independently powered USB hub to boost the power supplied but it made no difference. I finally got a Belkin USB card and that works fine. I should mention that the Linksys card worked fine on other computers and I sold it.
• Handheld VHF - Standard Horizon 250S: I've had this radio for several years and it worked fine but the problem is that the rechargable battery no longer accepts a charge. The cost of the replacement is prohibitive. Fortunately, I had also bought one that uses either regular AA alkaline batteries or rechargables, so I can replace the batteries without throwing out the radio.

Rigging

• Autopilot - Cetrek 770: The wiring now is fine (I had found and replaced some corroded wire connectors) but I had a hydraulic leak in the ram that actually moves the rudder shaft. This happened on the way back to PLC so we had to hand steer for 16 hours. I have yet to try to get it fixed since it seems everyone in Venezuela is on Christmas holiday now (December 23-January 15).
• Hydraulic Boom vang - Navtec: The seals on this cracked causing an oil leak while on the way back to PLC. It took about 3 weeks, but the new seals and lower unit came from Navtec in the States. The local North Sails loft here in PLC got it fixed but there was some confusion about how much gas pressure to have. We finally got it right (700 to 1000 pounds is correct, according to Navtec).
• Stainless steel chainplates: I replaced the 3 chainplates on the port side, where I found the one that showed a crack. The Venezuelan stainless steel seems to be OK so far. I may pull and replace the starboard side later in the year.

Outfitting

• Refrigeration - Adler Barbour ColdMachine: We had another small set of problems; first was that the fan cooling the compressor failed and before I noticed, the compressor was getting very hot. I replaced the fan but then it seemed that the compressor wouldn't rurn off (the box kept getting colder). We finally solved this by replacing the thermostat (I had a spare).
• Windlass - Maxwell HWC 1200: I've have now used this for about 3 months and am very happy with it. Its very powerful and works well. It does have the same problem as the last one though - the chain gets jammed up in or just under the chain pipe but of course, this isn't the fault of the windlass. I am happy that I can now use power in the down direction as well as up since this keeps fingers clear of the gypsy. I had a minor accident with a finger getting caught between the chain and gypsy when I first used it but fortunately had no serious injury (user error).
• Varnish - Epiphanes Clear Gloss: This is the best stuff but expensive. It looks great on our interior teak and will probably last for years. We used Cetol on the outside teak before this but would use this varnish now. I think it looks better and would probably hold up as well. The only thing is you need some skill to apply it and it requires some extra preparation, unless the old finish is really in bad shape.