May 20, 2008


Well today is what we have been waiting for - Tuesday, our launch date. Neither Wayne nor I had a good night sleep, we set the alarm for 6am to get up early and be there at the factory for the big event. It has been so long since I had to set an alarm that my first reaction when it went off was that I was leaving a store with the security tag still attached to my purchase. We quickly jumped up had breakfast and headed to the factory. Of course, we were there before everyone and I am sure they all must have thought we slept in the parking lot.

8am was the scheduled time for departure. We quickly learned that it was changed to 10AM, (no problem African time). We had been anxious as the weather forecast was not that favorable but it was early and the sun was bright, with little wind. At 9:30AM the rigging truck arrives. They appeared to have great difficulty backing up to align the bed of the truck directly under the boat. I could see Wayne starting to pace with anxiety (we did secure the boat insurance as of midnight last night). Wayne commented to one of the Admiral workers, "I'm getting nervous". The staff replied "yeah, the other company would have it on the truck and be gone by now". Needless to say this did not provide Wayne with any comfort, and after a short pause he replied, "What other company"?

Truthfully, they did not appear to really have what they needed to stabilize the boat on the bed of the truck. The rigging company (I presume) manager quickly came and was on the phone to whomever. At 10AM the traffic control officers arrived (on time). I went over to "chat" with them. They said, "We haven't done a delivery with this company but others have and it went fine," again not instilling confidence. The traffic officers stated that the boat would not be moved if it was too windy but a little rain was fine. They also noticed that the truck was missing a "disc" on the window. This I figured out meant some kind of sticker. The manger stated that the window was recently replaced and he didn't have the disc/sticker and wasn't sure where to get it. The officers asked for a copy which luckily he did have back at the office. At this point the manger of the rigging company stated that his company would not be ready to move the boat until 1pm. No problem the officers would return and Wayne and I would go for lunch. We found a nice little place on the beach.

While we were eating it started to rain and thunder, followed by bolts of lightening hitting the water. Our waitress was kind enough to tell us that she had lived here for 2 years and had only seen lightening once before. Wayne said this storm is passing quickly and he was confident things would be fine by 1pm, so confident that he promised to play a game of Skip-bo with me later if he was wrong. (He hates that game and I love it).

After lunch we started to return to the factory when the phone rang. Tonight after supper and at least one bottle of wine the Skip-bo tournament will begin!

Tomorrow's forecast: 60% chance of rain, winds up to 35 kph. Maybe if we get an early start......