The lady is having some work done

Many friends have asked when I will actually begin using the new boat. I should just politely say that the lady is having some minor surgery. Owning a boat simply means moving it from one place to another to have repairs done.

I spent all of last week working with Mick Shove, one of the partners at Burr Yacht Sales, to troubleshoot some of the many things that were found not to work during the initial survey and inspections. Mick is very good at tracking down a lot of mysteries, and many items have now been checked off or we have determined what parts or work are needed. Importantly, I found the loose wires that were causing the satellite dish not to work, and Mick put them back together. It will now need a new receiver box to replace the ancient one on board. Friday, the engine mechanics from a company called ShorePower arrived and began draining all of the fluids from the engine and removing big parts like the turbo after-cooler to take to the shop to clean or refurbish. They are expected to complete their tasks by the end of next week. 

Next Friday or the following Monday the boat will be moved to Zimmerman Marine, a boatyard within the gigantic Herrington Harbor Marina. There it will be hauled out of the water on a travel lift and the 100,000-pound boat will be driven into a shed where the hull will be painted and the varnish stripped down to bare wood and redone with about a dozen coats. This is expected to take approximately six weeks with a target completion date of November 30. While it is there, there are roughly 20 items to be repaired that require the boat to be out of the water, and the interior upholstery will also be recovered as specified by the lovely Laura Lee. Division Belle should emerge looking much better after her facelift, and with her new name and Richmond Hill, Georgia painted in gold on the stern.

So far, I took the wheel for about five minutes during the initial sea trial, but otherwise I have not driven the boat at all. It's a project.
I don't expect to be posting anything here until December, because maintenance is essentially boring. And besides, it is not polite to disclose details of work a lady has had done to maintain her lovely and young appearance.

Many thanks to those of you who are following this adventure. If you haven't done so, please click at the right to add your email address and receive any updates. And feel free to click below if you wish to publish comments.