The big news today was that Conni completed the "Dockside Commissioning" process, and our installation came through with flying colors. Everything checks out, thankfully. The drive moves the rudder, the rudder indicator correctly provides information on the direction and degree of rudder movement, and the other devices needed correctly provide their data. It's a monumental validation of our work.

Yesterday, Dominc, the yard owner, was moving a boat into the yard. He wants to get as many boats as possible into the yard, of course, to make the money. He places the boats just inches away from other boats, and in this case, the boat he was moving started swinging and hit ours. Thud! I was out of the cabin immediately and found that Dominic had moved the boat too close and it had smashed our bow bicolor light, the red/green bow-mounted light. I cursed, the saw that it was Dominic. He apologized and took full responsibility. I saw him today and he said that he had already ordered a new one. I went forward to today and checked the damage and Wow! There were only a few pieces of plastic hanging by the electric wire. I guess that's something else to do.

Today was filled mostly with various smaller jobs. I got the diesel feed hose from the old heater removed. Conni got all of the plastic windows cleaned and polished. In fact, I was able to start stowing tools.

Each day from here on will entail our usual commissioning list rather than installations. We've got another head pump to replace and some new hose to install. We've got a water maker (desalinator) to rebuild. There are some big repair jobs but nothing like we've done.

Assuming that the weather cooperates tomorrow, Conni will make her yearly trip up the mast to install various wind gadgets: the old technology of a Windex and our new B&G wind sensor. She and I also must re-install the main halyard, the line that raises and lowers the main sail. We replace with parachute cord all of our halyard for the long off-season, and then use those to pull through the original line. Unfortunately, that "messenger line" broke during the off-season and we've got to have Conni drop a line down the mast that I can catch, then use it to pull through the actual halyard. It could be 20 minutes, it could be all day, and we've had both. The last chore, is for her to replace an old and battered light located high on the mast. I usually do that kind of thing, but if Conni can mange it, it'll save a lot of work for me. It should be easy, but nothing is easy when hanging 60-feet in the air.

[As I write this, a land crab about two feet from my chair has crept from its hole in the ground and is using its claws to pluck tiny pieces of grass and is stuffing them into its mouth. Obviously it's how they eat, but we've just never seen them do it.]