Mid - March already !
Yes things are happening. Slowly. Sort of.

There is a definite feeling of ...... a n t i c i p a t i o n
The kind you see where a 5 year old has woken up early on christmas day, sees all the pressies but is not allowed to touch until..... thebouncingupanddownbitingyourfingerssoexcitedwanttoscreamgetitoverwithalready kind !
Jeez, we are going to party so hard when this is done !!

So we have received some CV info from the surveyor, and submitted this to SAMSA. We wait in fear and trepidation !

If they decide not to appoint him, then we will start looking at offshore !
If she is registered offshore, the fight with South African Revenue Services (SARS) will be interesting when we claim Custom Duties and VAT back !
Not ideal, but if we have to do that, then so be it.

As for ICASA, we are still waiting !
Giselle's PA has taken this aspect on; simply because I am about to 'lose it' at the pure incompetence / dont give a toss / dont actually know what to call it 'service' !!
So she has been doing this for almost a month or so now....and guess what - she is also pulling her hair out ! Ha, its not just me : ))
Seems like they want us users to be 'illegal' !
Excuse the language but - 'sexual expletive' them !

We have a ship station license, as well as operators tickets; so, push come to shove, I will use without a sat-fone license. I will not compromise the safety of the vessel or its crew because of ICASA's lack of......administrative process.

!! Why must it be so.......difficult ? !


As for the actual work......

Rudder shaft has been welded. Fairing will commence once fitted.

Below waterline fairing is complete. Scaffolding for above waterline work should be complete by end of the week.
When she is moved for painting the rudder will be fitted.

Internal work is continuing.
As usual, the surveyor and shipwright are being wizards....again : )

The heads are currently being converted to electric / pumped, as well as the existing manual system being serviced. The actual pans are also being serviced / rebuilt with new seals, hardware, lids and bases where required.

The surveyor, after some searching, finally managed to source the elusive ball valve.....ordered, paid....we wait for shipment, etc, etc !

When the watermaker water pumps were stripped, they seemed to be - shall we say questionable - as the previous owner evidently never drained them properly before laying up.
Manfred managed to rebuild the feeder pump and get it going again, from parts available locally. Now only the high pressure pump still requires capacitors and seal kits.....and hopefully the membranes are still serviceable. Not withstanding, they will be installed this week.

Unfortunately however, it was found that the inverter was damaged due to salt water contamination, evidently due to its original position which was to close to the water pumps.

The battery charger has been relocated to a new position, for easy access.

A new exhaust manifold is being built into the aft bulkhead, to ensure and maintain water tight integrity of the bulkhead.

The engine room floor is progressing slowly....and hopefully the generator will be installed by next week.

Bilge alarms and most thro hulls are in....and so it goes on...

For pics, please see, ' And so it goes on....'