I am never going to play Tetris again

Rean doing the electrical thing

The week is over. My nerves are recovering slowly, and new crises tempt me. But one thing: Tetris is not going to be fun again.

Lieb's truck got sick

Let me start at the beginning: On Monday we had a last frantic finishing session. David and Phineas did the last few floors and hung the forecabin and toilet doors, while Rean reviewed the electrical system and wired up the 220 volt side. Then  on Tuesday Lieb arrived with his truck, and we eased Dreamtime out of the nursery where she had taken root. For a few kilometers all went well, but then Lieb's little truck blew its radiator. I hooked Dreamtime behind the Cruiser, but the traffic police took a dim view, and I had to leave her overnight at a filling station.

The next morning Tendai turned up with his roll-on truck, and we were off. All went well, with a small hiccup at Henley on Klip, where a traffic police officer, herself in the heavy load category, judged by eye that Dreamtime exceeded the five ton limit of loads that may go through this benighted hamlet, and slapped a fine on us.

But then we made it to Manten Marina, and left Dreamtime to converse with a few similar boats.

Tendai to the rescue, but beware: Henley does not like trucks

On Friday I was back with the cargo of ingots. Unfortunately only lead, so if anyone knows an alchemist... because the 800 kg lead scrap I bought delivered only 600kg ingots. We need, according to the designer, 800 kg, and I feel we need 1000kg.

Getting the lead in was not fun at all. Reinhard loaded the bucket and kept tabs of the weight, Paolo hoisted it up and packed the ingots for me to stack, and I stacked. I have serious bruises from hanging over the bunk frames to arrange the perverse ingots neatly so that we achieve the highest denstiy, like Tetris with lead blocks, at the extremity of your reach.

New company

We also installed a few items, most importantly the cushions for the seats and forward cabin bunk. And she feels like a home already!

Tetris?

Next week I will work on the masts, take them down and see if we can step them and measure the shrouds, and then bring the shrouds back to be swaged. Yes, I acknowledged, reluctantly, that the square rigger practise of rack-seizing your own rigging was perhaps one step too far.

Thanks again for all the woodwork, Phineas. And David for your ongoing encouragement and support. Rean, the electrics are not done! And also a thank you to Reinhard and Paolo.

Testing the cushions. 

Torschlusspanik

That is a German expression for the panic that sets in as the door begins to close. I am committed to move Dreamtime to water on 26 September, and now have seven million things to tie up. My plan to have her splashed reasonably nearby did not come off, so she will go to Manten's Marina in Deneysville. Check it out on Google maps... A cool 160km from here (That's 99.4194 miles, for the Americans) which means a two hour drive to go and finish all the final jobs. It's highway through some of the more congested highways around Johannesburg, and my nerves are already getting wound up.

Framework for wim platform and boarding step

Last week was miserable: Either the parts I had made didn't fit or I forgot something at home. So I try to work at home and the parts are on the boat... And then on Friday things came together: The shackles that were too big were changed by a friendly girl for a smaller size that was not in the catalog. The swim platform went on as designed, with almost no hassles, and came off again for rustproofing. The net under the bowsprit went on as planned. The electrical panels went on, but will need slight modifications.

Electrical panels: first fitting

The panels between the toilet and the waste water tank came out as planned, now for the pipework. And a problem: The standpipe to the hull is 50mm. The outlet from the tank is 48mm. A 50mm gate valve/ball valve is actually 2 inches, so 58mm thread. And plumber suppliers just shrug and rill their eyes. So that has to be fixed before I can splash her. Also the sea chest inlet is 40mm, and I need to borrow a die to thread that, a ball valve (1.5 inch) is already waiting. A friend has an old plumber friend who will lend me his old manual die, these days everyone use machines to thread pipe and you must just bring your boat to the workshop....

Pirate number one

Pirate number 2

I had help with fitting screws and unscrewing bolts: My pirates boarded me again. Such friendly, well-behaved pirates, Josh and Cooper.

I will only have helpers for two more working days, so there are priority lists...