Wind Generator, Some Assembly Required

With Sylvain’s assistance, the wind generator post goes up”¦up”¦up”¦and we both stand back and have a look”¦

“Trop haut,” (too high) we both agree. “It’s going to vibrate too much.”
UGH. The sun is almost setting, can’t it just be right!? We pull it down again. I dismount the wind generator, hang it from the boom and take a hack saw to the post”¦

“Some assembly required”¦” I mutter to myself. “And why do you have to be SO close to me and Swell, mister, the marina is almost empty?…” Meanwhile, Sylvain, despite being finished for the day, goes to get his 220V jig saw so we can cut the unwanted piece of the pole lengthwise to save me from having to cut the wires and do all the connections again. Without any loss of digits, Sylvain saves the day”¦ We have a similar disregard for personal safety when the job just needs to get done. I hold the pole against the boom and the wires flat inside the tube, while standing on the arch over the steering station, toes curled over the stainless bar like a bird on a perch. Sylvain is balanced on the lifeline, cutting towards his body, metal shards flying everywhere, neither of us with eyes protected, slowly the tired blade makes its way down the length of the pole”¦.we then wedge screw drivers into the cut to free the wires. Mount the generator again, pole goes back up. Voila.

“Merci beaucoup, Sylvain. Bonne soiree. A demain.”

Stretch, nibble, and now to connect the wind generator to the batteries”¦
It’s almost midnight now. I’m tucked in the port torpedo tube wiring in the peace of the night to Dire Straights. I mounted the switch on the electrical board, now a fuse between the switch and the positive terminal, strip the wires, slide on the heat shrink, crimp the butt connector, melt the heat shrink over the connection”¦remembering the Above the Waterline crash course in electrical systems back in Marina 4 in S.B. 2005. Okay, that’s enough for tonight. I’ll wait for the morning to test it”¦and then start all over with the solar panels. I’m POOPED.