You know how we had our navigation gear stolen? Well three months later, we still have on-going problems.Our Raymarine wind instruments stopped working, but this got fixed in Paynesville last week. Then there was our Raymarine depth sounder which had not worked since the replacement Multi Function Display (MFD) unit was installed in Melbourne. Thank god we kept our old stand alone Hummingbird sounder and have been getting by with that!
We had much angst waiting for Brook, the Melbourne electronics guy, to make and send a patch lead to connect our depth sounder to the new MFD. But the blasted thing never turned up and we got sick of Brook’s lack of response, our having to endlessly chase him and getting nowhere.
In desperation we asked our Paynesville Marine Electronics man, Chris, to investigate. He has figured out why the transducer would not work: it is not compatible with the new MFD that was installed. Even if Brook had got us the patch lead, it would not have worked anyway! It pays to deal with an authorised Raymarine service agent… Lesson learnt!
So guess what? We have to buy a new depth sounder and will have to fit it when the boat next comes out of the water or more likely when we can find somewhere to beach Take It Easy!
We are now waiting for the new sounder to arrive before we go. So it is likely we won’t leave the Lakes until later in the week. And with the size of the swell out there, it might be more comfortable later!
Despite the on-going saga, we are enjoying what the Gippsland Lakes have to offer: friendly company, beautiful surroundings, gorgeous birdlife. And Bengie is pretty happy, as she can roam around at will at her favourite place: underneath the Cruiser Club House.
Sv-Anui 
you could write a book about all this. It has been quite a saga for you. Sounds like all the problems we have been having with our house over the last year,
Yes it is a combined house and mode of transport, and when things go round, they really stop you in your tracks!
They really do, thankfully our problems seem almost over, I hope yours will be too.
We have now got the sounder and are at Lakes Entrance. Probably leaving tomorrow!
That’s good to hear, I hope that is the end of it all for you. Safe travels.
Great captures of birds Chris! I’m sorry about the faulty equipment. It’s time to enjoy the time that you have free in that location. Time flies, in no time you’ll be out of there! 🙂
Hi HJ – and with our luck, once the gear is sorted, the weather window will have gone and we will have to wait some more! But as you say it is a lovely region so might as well enjoy it! Glad you like the birds 🦆🐥
I’m sorry you guys are having so much strife with the electronics, better times are ahead in that area I’m sure. Lovely photos as always! ❤️😎
Hi John, you know how boating goes: always something to fix and plenty of tearing $100 notes under the shower! Thanks for the words of the encouragement…. always nice to get your comments.
Thank you! So kind. Safe travels. ❤️
Great shot of the grebe. We are feeling for you – we know what it is like to be waiting for parts and repairs. But it is not such a bad place to be stuck.We couldn’t get out of the Lakes’ for 10 days because of the weather – but we’d had a great time following a great boat and its crew in! 🙂
Oh yeah after Bermagui! We are still waiting and might end up leaving with a swift westerly up our bum… may be … or wait for the next window! We’ll keep you posted!
Personally, I am not sure a swift westerly up the bum would be a comfortable experience with the latent forecast swell. Our recent ‘swift’ sailing trips have been very short with practically no swell …in your situation we would probably wait for something more sedate.
We are getting a bit desperate! But we’ll see! It is so cold now!
We understand cold. Andrew would love to be in Qld right now (he has the occasional grizzle…the boat we came across the Bight with is back in Sydney) …we had 7.7 degrees overnight (4.2 two days ago!). But better to be cold than uncomfortable or worse! Although I guess Bengie would probably be happier for some warmer weather…
Bengie does a lot of snuggling!
I’m in the midst of trying to get my head around the whole transducer comparability business. Transducers are so darned expensive! I’ve bought a unused secondhand one that was too good to pass. I’m hoping is compatible with the B&G display we’ve purchased. In theory it is but… I’ll believe it when I see it! Hope your issues are resolved quickly now, and you can head for warmer climes.
Yes, we did not realise when the MFD was installed, thinking it is a Raymarine transducer and more importantly having giving the list of instruments the new MFD had to work with to Brook… we will see what happens when the new transducer arrives – certainly will test it in the water before we leave Paynesville.
Oh man. You’d think you’d have covered your bases. What a (expensive) pain! From what I understand Transducers are not exactly new or exotic technology that would be difficult to make backwards compatible with new displays. Sounds like a fancy bit of income generation by Raymarine. Personally I think marine electronics are unjustifiably overpriced, given that apart from the weather proofing- they share most of their components with regular consumer devices.
Anyway : rant over!
Agreed! Marine gear is always expensive…
Being stuck in the Lakes sounds lovely esp Duck Arm, but I keep thinking of the trip north last year and how cold it was and hope you escape to the north sooooon. 🐬🐾
Hiya Sue – As do we! We now have the sounder and have moved to Flagstaff Jetty! You might get an email from Marine Traffic tomorrow telling you we have left the Gippsland Lakes!
Hi Chris & Wade
Just spent a couple of days non contactable – no signal – at Walhalla.
Back to reality now and that includes appreciating your latest problems. So many experts around that don’t know what they are doing! Anyway sounds like you are now on your way – good sailing
Hi Tom and Lou, yes we are out in the big briny – left this morning (Thursday) and going really well in a fairly stiff breeze. Makes for very fast sailing!
Well done you two. See you are anchored in one of our favourite spots. Certainly had the wind in your favour “plenty of it”. We should be close to leaving this time next week. Weather permitting of course. Enjoy Eden. Hope to see you down the track. J&J on Chi
Hiya sailors! Yes we finally left! Posting about it tomorrow… GREAT sail over two days, no stress, just as we like it. We are here in Eden overnight, then continuing on to Bermagui. Little hops from now on! See you soon along the way.