We are faced with the dilemma of either getting stuff done or writing about it. If we get stuff done, there is too much to write about and no time to do it, but if we were to try to write about it all, there would be nothing done to write about. Well, clearly we could try to balance the two, but instead we are very biased towards getting stuff done and getting relaunched. So, readers are missing out on much of the neat stuff being done, but not being written about. The big news is that the scaffold was moved from the port side to the starboard. The implication is that the port side hull is done–and with a few small exceptions it is basically done. All indications are that the starboard side will go much faster. After all, we have a learning curve behind us.

A while back, the hull was nicely sealed, so in accordance with my “how to build a wooden boat” posting it was time to drill more holes in the hull. I had already put in the big obvious thru-hulls and I thought most of the holes were “there.” So I was surprised when I added up the needed new holes and came up with more than 10. It was time to pull out the drill and get to work. The holes for the forward-looking sonar (a real cool toy), the hole for the speed-depth-temperature sensor, and the six holes for the deck drains. I think we are up to about 17 and there are about four more to go in the transom for two exhausts and two cockpit drains. The two holes I dread most are for the hawse pipes in the hull near the bowsprit. Oh, yeah, and the 6.25 inch counter bores for the spigots on the 7 starboard portals–those are a bear to drill without putting big gashes in the planks. And after that, the well-sealed, waterproof deck needs lots of new holes in it. The number of needed holes keeps going up the more I think about it…so I had better stop thinking.

Speaking of holes, we are still waiting for the propeller and shaft to come back from the machinist so that we can plug that big hole in the hull. I am waiting for the shaft with the new flanges before drilling the last engine-mount bolt holes. I want to make sure the drive-train is aligned as well as possible. Of course, once we get the hull wet, everything will move and I hope we will have enough freedom of movement to realign the engine and propeller shaft.

In other engine news, it is exciting to have some of the interfaces done. We have plumbed raw water feeds to both the Cummins engine and the Onan gen-set. We also have instruments for both installed in the charthouse and hooked up. Still needed are the battery hookups, throttle/shifter, and exhausts, well that, and, as describe before, the propeller shaft and engine mount bolts. I am also very excited to have finished the fuel system for both engine and gen-set. Fuel in the tanks can now go to and from the engines–but we have no way to put fuel in the tanks. That latter (important) capability is two more holes in the deck and is part of the upcoming cockpit project which also includes the throttle/shifter and bolting down of the steering gear. We briefly discussed the necessity of the throttle/shifter since we could have someone in the engine room and just shout commands–or ring bells as they did in the old days–but we broke down and bought a beautiful bronze Kobelt unit instead. The steering gear does need bolts because right now when the wheel is turned, the wheel turns sidewise and the rudder stays where ever it wants to be. Not the way to control a 29 ton vessel.

In addition to the engine instruments, we now have a ten-tank (Tank Tender) fuel gauge, lighting switches, and the best part, a Cruz Pro MaxVu110 multifunction instrument. With the cost of sailing instruments as high as they are, I expected to build my own multifunction display with an LCD and some microprocessors that I could program to display anything I wanted to see. It turns out that Cruz Pro already does this. So, rather than reinvent the wheel, we bought one and installed it. With all the instruments, the chart-house is starting to look like part of an operational boat.

The lack of surrounding water, because we are still in a boatyard in the desert, is the only real distraction from this illusion.