May 20, 2016
Waanderlust 6
Friday
I finished up the mast electrical trim-out with the steaming light (actually called a masthead light), located on the front of the mast below the spreaders. This light required a mounting bracket that I secured to the mast with screws. As with the anchor light at the top of the mast, I replaced the stock incandescent bulb with an LED version.
Afterwards, I finished up the wiring at the masthead with a VHF connector (the antenna was due soon), and at the mast base by making up the ends of the two sets of wires (labeled and numbered according to their function for ease of connection to the terminal block belowdecks).
LED bulbs like this have distinct polarity, meaning the bulb only works when inserted correctly. And indeed, inevitably, when I tested the two new fixtures with a battery, I found that in both cases I had to turn the bulbs over in order to get them to light.
This completed the mast work for now. I had new halyard winches on the way, and would complete their installation upon arrival.
With good weather forecast all day, I finished up the little coachroof repair. After masking off the surrounding areas to protect against overspray, and other final preparations, I spray-applied several coats of off-white LPU mixed with a flattening agent to match the remaining areas of the deck.
Total time billed on this job today: 2 hours
0600 Weather Observation:
48°, mostly clear. Forecast for the day: mainly sunny, 76°