Brother-in-law Tom Grover made the cabinet doors and came down to help me to install laminate counter tops and doors.  Doors and laminate look great and Tom and I had some fun while he was down here too!

Wet locker next to electrical panel.  Nick is nearly there with all of the electrical system - 120 Vac, 12 Vdc, solar panel controller, elect system monitor, and central water level gage shown here.

Forward webbing was installed before she was put in the water.  Really look nice!

Ready to cast off lines!

At our new temporary home (about 200 yds from Lombardi Yachts) where work will continue to get her ready to head south to warmer weather.

Sorry that the photos below aren't in order.  I went to the trouble of naming them with a letter of the alphabet at the front to get them in order, but to no avail.  The weblog chooses its own order!

Anyway, below are photos of the big day.  The boat went into the water on Friday the 7th of November.  She is floating well above her lines (lighter than expected) which was a pleasant surprise to the boat builders.  She is a little aft-heavy, but that should adjust as we add water in the tanks, the forestay & jib and main sail.

Mast is 50 feet (15.15 meters) long!

NERVOUS TIME!

Getting ready to lift her \|/

Sitting pretty.

Progress is continuing at a fast pace as a lot of the parts and materials that I have had at hand are now going on the boat.  The photo below shows the windows and the rub rail installed. 

Coach roof painted with non-skid paint.  One section of deck left to paint.  Hopefully next week.

View of aft with deck painted. 

Cockpit and starboard helm station.

Aft bulkhead with door and windows... looking to starboard.

Cushions are in.  Still in plastic covers, but they fit nicely and look very good against the new paint job.

Lots of different cushions make up the settee.  This help with access to items stored under the settee.  Note the oak flooring sample.  This is what we will install in the saloon and in the aft cabins.  Maybe more places, but depends on fit.

Below photo shows black anti-fouling paint added to the boat below the waterline.  This paint is rolled on in many coats (7 so far including barrier coats with one to go) and provides a barrier against sea water and sea life (barnacles and green slimy stuff).

This week we moved the boat from between the buildings to a staged position for launch.  I was very anxious, but all went very smoothly.

The tractor found the load a bit of a chore, as Steve & Ronny had to provide ballast to keep the front tires on the ground.

Finally we can get some perspective and appreciate the lines.

... and the size of her.

Last week we primed the saloon, galley, and port fwd head ready.  Next is the starboard fwd cabin, the shower and the port aft state room.

Saloon seating all primed and ready for spot fill and final paint. 

Looking forward from port aft cabin through galley and into fwd head.

View of forward head primed.  Shower door is papered in front.  It should be ready for final painting next week.

Boot stripe and stripe which ties in the four port windows on each side were painted at the beginning of this week.  Unfortunately the camera, lighting, computer, or photographer has changed the actual shade of blue the stripe is.  These photos make it look more of an aqua.  In actuality there is no green tone.  The stripes are a light blue.  They really look nice in person.

Note:  The stripes on the other side are the same, but the boat is too close to the white building to get a photo.

First shots of window cut outs.  All four will be covered with solar grey tinted Lexan in the shape same as the cut out, but bigger of course for fixing to the boat.  Notice hatch window at front center.

Good view of side window.  Pretty sexy huh?

Looking forward from the cockpit, through the cockpit window to front window above settee.

Sexy side window over galley. 

Initial electrical installation.  Battery switches, charger/inverter, house (3-4D size gel cells) and starter (1-group 24 gel cell) batteries, electrical breaker panel, and ground bus bar are installed.

view from steps on port side looking forward thru the galley and into the port head.  walls are nearly ready for primer, then paint.

Latest view of settee.  Major changes are the many storage areas now have lids and openings.  Freezer is installed under the starboard side forward seat and two 26 gallon water tanks under the middle seat under the round white covers.  Open area to be used for books.  Cushions will cover all of this, so will need to be moved for access.

View of rudder made and in position with rudder block.  SS rudder shaft to be cut down.

Good view showing relationship between rudder and propeller shaft.

Below is a layout that I have made by modifying one of the Transit drawings.  This shows the changes that I have made to the design layout that Richard proposed in his original files.

The main modifications that I made were the addition of a fwd port head, twin cockpit helm positions, office in stbd aft cabin, and equipment layout in galley and stbd head. 

View from the side in the daylight really shows her lines.  Grey paint is final primer.  The light colour on the top is "high-build" primer.  The bottom is still in the gel-coat and is ready for bottom paint.

Aft view in the sunlight.

No windows cut in the coach-house yet.  Only opening is a forward facing hatch.

Sandwiched between two buildings where she'll sit for the next few months (until it is ready for final painting, when we will probably move it back inside for a short while).

Settee

Owners cabin looking forward from the berth out to the galley.

Owner's berth.

Another view of settee.  Nav station seen on the right.  Taken from the galley steps.

Moved boat outside the shop.  She'll be in "mothballs" for a couple months as Kimberley and I take a trip to Australia.  I'll resume work when we get back in April.

Meanwhile, here are some photos from the day we moved it out.

First photo is actually the last one and shows the boat outside with owner happily on top.

Used the truck to pull the boat out on its four carts.  I am guessing that the boat should weigh something on the order of 10 - 11,000 lbs right now.

... just a little further.

Truck driver (and nervous owner) looks in a hurry to get back and check progress.

Photo below shows solid wood (glassed to roof) mast base.

King post is positioned below mast step base and on top of mast beam.  Post is solid wood bonded to mast beam and glassed to coach roof.

Usual view of Starboard aft quarter.  Helm positions in, coach roof on and fairing ready for primer at the transom.

View of cabin roof from front as we are getting ready to have bottom of hulls, underside of bridgedeck and transom primed. 

View of aft area after grey primer.  Really ties in the features of the transom areas.