all the 12V power from the main C/B panel died. It took me half an hour to find the obvious but unlikely - the master circuit breaker near the battery failed. It didn't trip - it just broke. Turning it off and on did nothing - had to rush out and find a replacement.

I am a pack rat and have tons of parts aboard. Lately I have been trying to reduce the volume. I sold a replacement breaker at the last boaters flea market before leaving NZ. I never would have expected a circuit breaker to go bad.

Fortunately we are tied up in a slip and not under way. A few months ago this would have meant no autopilot, no instruments, everything would be dead and I would have been troubleshooting with Nell hand steering.