Finally got around to calling Simrad Tech Support about the AP12R. Same process as before. Need to check the LED under the drive unit cover first. Could be a compass problem, but a new compass will cost around $250.00.

Decided to sneak a trip in again between storms. Left Mission Bay at 5:00am. A little weird - We were the ONLY trailer in the parking lot, which says somethng about the fishing?.

Headed up to La Jolla Kelp, and fished that area north to Torrey Pines. Fishing was slow - a couple of short halibut, and four calico bass, although nothing big.

The engine ran fine, sems a little smoother on cold idle than before. No issues while running - power was there, the sputtering from the bad coil ground was gone. Also, no "Low Oil" alarm, although we didn't take any really bad shots, either.

Unfortunately, the Simrad AP12R did not make it through the day trouble-free. Around 3:00pm, while heading in to Mission Bay, the autopilot suddenly threw the boat into a left turn. Good thing for us the turn started out gradually. We were able to brace ourselves, then while trying to correct course, the AP12R accelerated the turn rate until the unit hit the steering wheel stop. We were able to cut the throttle and lose speed so that the hard-over wheel position did not cause any problems. We turned the unit off, let it sit, then tried again, but it had the same problem. Back to to Simrad Tech Support!

One other product issue note: Our West Marine Ditch bag continues to have zipper issues. The handles on this one are still firmly attached, but the main compartment zipper continues to have difficulties sealing. Good thing it's a "seal healing" zipper - because it takes several tries to get the teeth to mesh correctly.

Re-installed the AP12R, and performed some preliminary tests. Everything looks to be working again!

Picked up TB2 from Sunset Marine, and talked with Head Mechanic Doug Mallas about what went wrong. Turns out the problem was NOT related to the water in the fuel. The problem was a bad ground on the coil for the number 1 cylinder. This was covered under warranty.

Doug put the motor on the dyno and was able to reproduce the problem, and said it was running great on the dyno after the ground problem was fixed. He does not anticipate any future problems. .

Traded e-mail with Raymarine Tech Support on the issues surrounding the DS600X. This includes treating dense bait schools as a false bottom, and filtering out shallow bait schools. Their recommendation: select the range manually, leave all other settings on automatic. We'll give it a try the next time we're out.

The autopilot drive unit arrived on Friday while I was out of the office, will put it back in when I get TB2 back.