On Tuesday we went to the mailbox and what a wonderful surprise, Our new Raymarine Evolution Autohelm 400 was there! (A month earlier than they promised!)
Next week I will get it installed... We are very excited. This unit was VERY expensive (over $3500) but as we said in an earlier blog, should really pay for itself over time.... The picture doesn't look like all that should be $3500.... As I was reading all the installation instructions (shhh, don't tell anyone) I discovered the only cable that did not come with all the kit, was an Backbone cable to add this system to our existing Raymarine 2000 backbone already on the boat. Not a big deal, right? Wrong..... This is a $30 cable any day of the week at Defender, but they will be closed on the 4th for Independence Day and I don't want to drive to our mailbox to pick up a $30 cable. So I called more than 6 places around our home in Ontario only to find NO ONE HAS ONE! Now remember, Raymarine is THE most popular marine electronic gear in the world! In the end, DOWSER MARINE in Hamilton agreed to get it for me in Montreal and after I paid a $20 courier fee, they were happy to charge me $74 (including shipping) for the same came I could have got from Defender for $30.... Oh well...
This week we also picked up an impeller puller ($85) which should make replacing the raw water impeller go much easier....
Today I picked up a 50' piece of cable to replace the cable on our SSB. It doesn't seem to be working very well, so before I take on more drastic steps, this was the only piece I "re-used" from the old installation... Ted from Lazer Audio and Electronics in Ayr has been an awesome guy, giving me all kinds of helpful information as it relates to all things SSB and VHF....
The last job scheduled for next week will be to get the stanchions bedded properly and we will be ready to go...
binnacle.ca is a good Canadian source.
ReplyDeleteShipping is free on orders over $99.
They are in Halifax and often ship the same day.
Prices are comparable to US without the hassle.