Ramblings
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Slipping to replace the anode
Blue Opal’s anode is probably over a year old by now; I didn’t get it changed in Conwy, because it looked reasonable. With a year of growth on the hull too, I decided to bring her alongside our slip yesterday (the plan was for Saturday 10th, but I would have needed to slip her in…
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Re-running the topping lift
Blue Opal has a topping lift, 10mm braid on braid. I made the choice, when getting all the ropes changed out, to keep the shackle that was already present. This turned out to not be a great idea, as the stormy weather in Ireland over winter has resulted in the shackle vanishing – literally, there…
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Reducing power draw
Blue Opal, as fitted from the factory, has eleven 10W halogen bulbs. Not only do they draw 1.1 amps each (according to my bench power supply, and basic electronics knowledge), they get really hot and heat up the light fixture too. Having confirmed that they’re all G4 bulbs, a quick rummage on Amazon found a…
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Growth and a nice sail
Blue Opal has been in the sea for a year now, and the plant life has taken a distinct liking to her hull. I’ll need to dry her out on the slip in March (when the tides align, and hopefully the air temperature), but for now the club boatman and I took a small garden…
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Driving a PiHut Christmas Tree
The default program suggested for the PiHut Christmas Tree makes the lights flash rapidly, all at once. This was headache inducing, so I modded the code to provide me with something a bit more relaxing. My Pi has trouble setting one of the GPIO pins high (it’ll go high once, turn off, and then flicker…
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Winter update
Blue Opal is sitting at her mooring, and I’m looking for a pleasant day to go sailing in winter. So far it’s either been silly windy (and cold), or too damn cold and no wind. Yesterday was looking good initially, but then it started to rain… not heavy rain, just the type of misty rain…