On February 15, we moved the boat into Rybovich Spencer to start the second round of work that we needed to have completed. We pulled into the dock around 7:30 am. We checked in with the dockmaster and then checked in at the work office. We hoped to meet with our yard supervisor to review additional items we wanted to add to our work list. Unfortunately, that did not happen. We spent the day tidying up a few loose ends, and piddling around the boat.
On February 16, we met with our yard supervisor on a few key points that needed to be reviewed and felt comfortable with work getting underway. We decided it would be best to stay out of the workers way, but we planned to make sure that we were at the boat a couple of times each day in case there were questions.
February 17 and 18 we watched as the exhaust hoses were replaced. We discovered that the port exhaust hose was in far more desperate need of being replaced than we had first thought. The previous owners had not replaced it due to the modifications that would be required in order to complete that work. We authorized the modifications, essentially access panels being cut behind the galley sink, and the work quickly progressed.
February 19 was Saturday and it was spent sleepily doing next to nothing except wandering around the Palm Beach area checking out the marine stores. That actually isn't quite true. We did remove our old inverter and pull the wires that inverted the TV and stereo system back to where the new inverter was being installed. Once we had completed that, we decided to work on the rest when we were fresh instead of frazzled.
On February 20, we set to work on completing the inverter and Link 2000 panel installation. While Mike traced out the wires and connections, and identified the few final items we needed, I acted as gopher and researcher. Finally, around lunch time, I headed out with a list of items that we needed to obtain to complete the installation as well as a lunch order. Surprisingly, I found everything we needed at the Boat Owners Warehouse, and was back on the boat within 45 minutes with supplies and food. We worked the rest of the afternoon, running 2 sets of new electrical cables and wiring everything up. At the end of the day, we tested the new system and it worked. It was much easier to do than the instructions had led us to believe. We now had our new inverter/charger system up and running, and it only took 3 months to do it! Our inverter would power the following components: the refrigerator, the stereo, the TV, the computer, and soda machine.
On February 21 and 22, Rybovich Spencer began work on our freezer. On the 22nd, we saw why our freezer system was not working at peak efficiency! The freezing coils were on the outside of the box and there were a number of air gaps between the insulation and the freezer compartment. After discussing it with our supervisor, we decided to get an expert evaluation of the system before we decided precisely what move to make, though we were strongly leaning towards replacing the box and coils with something slightly smaller but designed more classically with cold plates inside the box.
February 23 was nothing special. Work progressed on the boat, and we were happy. On February 24, the plumbing in the galley, and the exhaust hoses on the engines were completely replaced also the water maker discharge was moved to its own thu hull. At this point we decided to start putting the aft stateroom back together. We were able to complete the port side of the boat. Unfortunately, we had to stop because the alarm system was not installed on the starboard side!
February 25 was the bad news day. We found out that the hatches that were supposed to have been received on the 20th had not been shipped from Lewmar yet, and Lewmar wasn't willing to give a ship date because they were "so back ordered." These hatches had been ordered in December! We also found out that Lofranz would not have a new windlass to us for 3 to 4 weeks. We debated this issue for a bit and decided that it would be better to wait for the new windlass since it was our feeling, as well as the mechanics that our windlass could not be salvaged due to the lack of preventative maintenance from previous owners. We could also envision ourselves having to pull up a 140 pound anchor by hand and with 100 feet or so of chain, this was not at the top of our list of things to do!
On February 26, we did nothing. It was nice!
On February 27, we decided to work on the washer dryer. If you remember, it had slipped an E-clip during the first part of February. We tried everything we could to get enough clearance access to work on it. Unfortunately, we needed 2 more inches of clearance to be able to do anything with it! We decided to hand this problem to our yard supervisor on Monday.
On February 28, we presented the problem of the washer dryer to the supervisor. He considered it, called in a second opinion and we came to the conclusion that we might be able to get a lower profile washer dryer. If that was the case, then we would do that. Otherwise we would have to figure out how to redesign the washer dryer access, or cut an inspection hatch in the fly bridge deck for it. Now that we had the time, we decided to add a few more items to the work list and have a door made for our new inverter, as well as framing in our stereo system. Lewmar still had not given a ship date for the hatches. As the current hatch are stating to deteriorate badly, and need to be replaced, we did not feel safe leaving the US without getting them replaced.
On February 29, a blocking plan was completed so the boat could be hauled on the synchro lift system. Our supervisor told us that the boat would be hauled on Thursday. He still did not know when the hatches would be in, so we took things into our own hands. We ordered 5 hatches from West Marine. The hatches would be in at the store Thursday.