> Hello, Ben! > > Here are some questions that I've collected from various people. > Perhaps you can answer them when convenient. > > 1) When will Idlewild depart Fremantle for Darwin? Who will be crew? Brad & Ben will leave about Mar 6 and meet Kevin in Broome. > 2) What repairs, if any, had to made to Idlewild in Australia? In > other words, what worked on the long passage and what failed? Plugged fuel filters and electric fuel pump were only problems and quickly resolved. I had changed primary filters before the crossing but not the secondary and should have. All else went great. For Australia got a vacuum tester and tested fuel lines and filters, lowered filters 2 feet to alleviate a potential future problem, I teed in a fuel line from the stove pump so if we have fuel pump problems again I just need to open a valve and turn on the stove fuel pump and save working on a hot engine in a rough sea. Our canopy had gotten torn in Arctic and again from wind in Cape Town so repaired it and strengthened our ridge pole over the aft section to stabilize the canopy so can now hold it tight so hope no flopping. We built 106 sq. inch paravanes and mounted them on 16' poles. Tried them out and work good. We put a loose line to the aft end of the rudder on the paravane for a safety line and also for a recovery line and it works very well. I have a ring over the recovery line with 2 ropes to it. One rope is over a shackle at the end of the pole and the other is straight to the ring. Pulling the rope that is trough the shackle will keep the recovery lines up out of the way. Pulling the rope going directly to the ring causes it to slide down the recovery line and trip the paravane and pull it in. The paravanes are aluminum and no trouble to recover and keep from banging against the hull. We are very pleased with it all. > 3) I'd like to know how Ben came to choose George Buehler. Did Ben > ever consider using a Diesel Duck for the circumnavigation? I felt George's thinking was near my way of doing things but that the Ducks were too wide and heavy to work on this project the way I had it planned, so a new boat was required. > 4) Why did Ben put his faith in a Kubota diesel engine? Nobody > handles their marine > engines in the States, maybe someone should. Did he have experience with > their tractors on his ranch? I know from the list that Kubota has a good > reputation from reading about the generators they power. Kubota have built 20 million small engines and are advanced in environmental issues as well as other design so are a good option. > 5) Can you provide an inventory of the electronics aboard Idlewild? Icom 802 SSB, Icom VHF, Icom hand held, Garmin 76 and Garmin 172 GPS with external antenas, Nobeltec with some charts, C-Map with Most World charts, Fagawi but only 3 Arctic charts, Iridium Sat phone with Ed Wilgoose email program, Sailmail, sounder, 24" radar JRC, NavCom auto pilot. > I trust you are enjoying your stay in Australia. Australia is great and nice to see the family, it will be 5 months before we see them again. -- Ben Gray Idlewild Custom Buehler 55 powered by a 55-hp Kubota Home port: Dunvegan, Alberta http://www.idlewildexpedition.ca/ http://dieselducks.com/Idelwild.html http://www.trawlersandtrawlering.com/ Where to follow Idlewild if you have Google Earth installed: http://tinyurl.com/ksnhg For the JPEG version: http://tinyurl.com/ovdt7

Could Ben please comment on the performance of his Navman autopilot? Thank you, Ron Rogers