Day 545 & 546 Somethings started and more road trips.

As I said in my last post, we were off to pick up the cables for our new short wave radio that we have been trying to get installed since Monday.  We keep getting interrupted by not having things we need to get the job done.  So it's back in the car and off for more errands and to pick up parts.  

I finally got the GAM antenna on the back stay(pictures once we are done).  It's nothing more than two pieces of wire that go up each side of the backstay joined at the bottom that goes to your radio antenna tuner.  At $495.00(we found ours cheaper), it isn't cheap but the inventor must make a bunch of bucks off it as it's not much more than a piece of plastic that holds the wires with a tube between them that slides over the backstay.  Most boats with an SSB(Single Sideband radio-or short wave radio)have their antennas built into their backstay with insulators keeping it separate.  One piece of the backstay bolts to your deck.  Up about 10 feet, they install an insulator with another piece of wire that leads to another insulator and another piece of wire that goes to the top of your mast.  You end up with three pieces of wire to make your backstay.  We chose to go with one solid piece of wire instead of three.  There is a lot of stress on that wire when you are out sailing.

We found the copper tape(a strip of copper that is 3" wide and 7 feet long)that another boater had given us way back at Shearwater,BC.  We don't think it is long enough to do the job of a grounding strap for the radio so we were off on the road again picking up more.  Now we have a strip that is 2" by 25 feet to use for the installation.  It attaches to the antenna tuner and then is unwound down in the bilge(stuff can be put on top of it) and laid out flat.  I plan on attaching it to the main grounding strap that goes through the propeller to get the biggest ground I can.  I don't understand how it works, I just know that it has to be installed.  Of course as I was screwing on the last piece of of the GAM antenna--a plastic clamp that goes at the bottom of the antenna, I snapped it right in half.  The company is sending me a new one.

One of the best places for marine supplies in San Diego is Downwind Marine.  We've been looking at their website for a while and found that they were having a seminar last night on diesel engines.  So after we got back from getting the copper strap, I took off for San Diego.  We've been trying to get more affordable insurance for Zephyr and the agent that it trying to get a bid asked for copies of the invoices from all the work done and since his office was on the way, I stopped off and he made copies.  I killed two birds in one trip.

The seminar started at 1930 and went till 2130.  It covered lots of topics--some I already knew and some I didn't so all in all the 2+ hour drive South was worth it.  I didn't get home till almost midnight.

Now it's time to get back to work and get the radio installed.

Sorry to hear about all the snow that is falling back home in Denver.  We were in shorts yesterday.  Finally we were warmer than the folks back home.  It's gotten really old having to wear three layers of clothes all the time while we were up North over the past 18 months.