Of all the weeks that work has been going on, I think that this week was the most painful! Simply put, there wasn't a lot left to do so there wasn't the visible impact of seeing work done! However, it was also a week of learning for us about our hydraulic generator, as well as viewing the completed mast box project.
The mast box was completed on Tuesday, February 1. It looked magnificent! Unfortunately, it made the rest of the interior look a touch shabbier. On Wednesday, the varnisher came out to start varnishing the steps going forward as well as the new mast box. This only made it look even better.
For 3 days, we watched the mast box become a glowing centerpiece of our main saloon. During this time, the guys working on the hydraulic generator came out to trace wires and figure out exactly how the system worked.
On Friday, February 4, the hydraulic generator was ready to test. Unfortunately, something came up at the yard and the electricians were unable to make it back out to test fire the system. We would have to spend another weekend in South Beach.
The weekend passed uneventfully and quietly. We didn't do much.
Monday came, and the electricians arrived to test fire our generator. A final check of the connections was made and we fired up the generator. After 16 months of waiting and wondering, we discovered that it worked! However, there were a few problems with it. The engine surged slightly at 800 RPMs and would not settle back out until 1500 RPMs. We wondered if it was a problem because the boat was not underway. The important thing was that we had AC power!
Thus ended our time of warranty work from Merrill Stevens. We were satisfied with the work they performed and happy to be getting underway in the morning.
Voyages