So January 2014 has come....and gone !
And I know, we havent posted since.......November I think !

Regretfully, news is VERY slow at the moment.
Its hellava frustrating, but its the Antiguan high season (Nov till end Apr / early May); and not because they, or we, dont want work to contunue at a sustained pace, its just that we cannot afford the season rates !

So we have 'an arrangement'...again (thanks guys !)...that work will continue when the gents have a 'slow week'.
And unfortunately for us, they have had a very busy season so far (glad for them !), what with the world economy picking up a tad and so forth.
And I wont even go into the exchange rate effect !! : ((

At one stage sometime in January, we were looking at a tentative April / May completion / sea trails.....but that has moved on.....

What has happened since the last post is that the drive shaft tube has been installed, and the welding to the hull is now for all intents, complete.
The holding tank & forward heads are installed, bilge and shower pumps and associated piping are evidently in hand / should be complete by now.

The rudder shaft was taken to a machine shop for welding to the rudder and should also be ready about now. Once on site, KoD will be lifted for replacement.

Once the rudder is in, final external hull finish will commence.

In the meantime, we have unfortunately had to try and source a 2 1/2" sea cock....

Work is progressing in the engine room and the engine re-installation is the next big 'milestone' - other than the rudder replacement and and and....
After discussion with the shipwright, once the engine is in, we will look at a 'date of completion'.

The cockpit and propane lockers are also now being finished off. Once done, these will be ready for the gas installers..

In the meantime, we have had to choose the colours for the hull. Ya right ! Like we can agree on the colours for the house....and now they want us to choose boat colours !!
So we read up on what the 'experts' have to say.

Ok, we are now more undecided than before. Sometime in a previous life, aesthetics meant something to me, but I also kind of, understand the 'practical' 'issues'.

We had a look at magazines etc....looked at colour cards - then played with digital images to see what it would look like.
We agreed that a blue is the way to go....it was a question of how dark !
We prefered the darker blue (Flag blue) to the lighter (Royal blue).

Yes, we understand the issues regarding imperfections, and will take our chances - in any event, we know the guys are going to do a brilliant job of 'hiding' them.
On heat retention, understood, altho we considered this a fair trade for the possible benefit of a slightly dryer bilge because of the heat retention !

Having said all that.....we just liked the look of her in a darker colour : ))
So, we had consensus - Flag Blue it is.

Over the last 2 weeks, I have also 'engaged' with South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) regarding registration. Unfortunately KoD is about 5 ton over a 'limit', otherwise South African Sailing (SAS) could have registered her. As it is, SAMSA have to do it now.

Geez !!! I hate Government departments. Altho SAMSA are 100% better than Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).
SAMSA responded within a week to my requests, ICASA have taken over a year to respond to an application for a sat-fone license !
Basically SAMSA wanted a SA surveyor to go and survey before they will consider registering. Fortunately my diplomatic skills came to the fore, and they are now willing to consider appointing the current surveyor, so that I can make application fro a temporary pass to do sea trails and get KoD to SA....where a SA surveyor will then look at her to register !

So I read....maybe about 500 pages of gov / SAMSA 'stuff'.....and come to the conclusion that we are doing everything anyway, and as the standards are based on ISO etc anyway....
Now I just have to try get the surveyor to send me a CV etc, so I can apply on his behalf, as per SAMSA format requirements.
Personal opinion......what a load to BS !
Having said that, they are quite willing and helpful, and they are better than ICASA !

So, were are we ?
We are hoping that there will be news and/or commencement again...as the spawn who just turned 11 going on 16 says.... like very soon....

We live in hope fear and.........!!!!

As soon as there is something 'decent' to post we will. Please keep following, it makes it worth our while : )

For pics, please see 2014