Same old shit...We're working very hard, dealing with the heat, and forging ahead. Conni, that amazing person, got all the halyards re-rove, although at a cost of some sunburn. We replace them during summer with "messanger lines", as they're called, and that saves the expensive halyards. I competed engine and transmission work that I began yesterday. Both components are ready to go, I think. I need to check the fuel tanks for contamination and blow through the fuel lines, but that's minimal. Our Honda generator is ready to go, as is our Mercury outboard. We are making progress.

The red and green "side lights", as they're called, are in a single fixture but the fixture has been drinking saltwater for a long time now, and we decided to replace the unit this year, and I also bought waterproof LED replacement bulb for it. Alas, the red and green sectors of the bulb don't align with the appropriate colors on the fixture, so we'll have to return to an energy-hungry incandescent bulb. Damn. Unlike incandescent bulbs, one must use red LEDs for the red side and green LEDs for the green side since LEDs produce so much less light.

The boat is a hot mess, with tools and parts everywhere. That's why we're in a pension! AC, beds, hot showers, Wifi, and a car: what's not to like? We'll get into town tomorrow and determine if we can find some propane fittings of if I have to scavenge parts to get something that work. Today was another in the seemingly endless series of French Polynesian holidays. Today was Whit Monday, a purely Catholic holiday but celebrated here. Tomorrow, business opens and, perhaps, Balloré Logistics will release our engine and truck it to our mechanic's shop.

I was reading my engine commissioning notes today and realized that, perhaps, it was the last time that I'd be doing all of that work on that engine. Staggering thought. We've pounds of purely Nanni-Diesel parts that we'll sort and, for the more valuable parts, we'll bring home for sale. We'll have so much space! This new engine has been a dream until the past few days, but we're closer than ever and the magnitude of the change is coming home to us.

We also learned that, rather than having to enlarge our propeller blades, we'll be able to increase the pitch a few degrees and run with our present prop for a while. How nice! Our current engine has 42 tired horses, and the new one, 50 virile one, so the difference will be significant and getting that power to the water is key.

One afternoon when I return to the pension and am not whipped tired, I'll get some photos posted, but we've been almost nowhere and done little else but work on commissioning the boat. I know that we have a few cool shots that I'll get posted