I arrived on Sunday the 16th, two days late due to a Northeaster that dropped 1 foot of snow in Newport and 2+ at the airport in Providence. I had a whirlwind two days with Bill before he left to head home. I spent two nights in a little caravan, parked next to the boat and storage container before moving onto my temporary home, a Halberg Rassy 40 Tanaya that owners Jim and Katie have been kind enough to let me stay on in their absence. It is tough to move onto a boat that is already fairly full with other people's things, but they cleared some space for me and I am using the V-berth as a storage closet for now. The hardest part is getting used to a small galley after being spoiled on Visions. Here is a pic of the boat.
In the meantime, I have gotten right into the thick of things at the yard. Lots of meetings, e-mails, phone calls, and a few other projects have filled my time. The fire did quite a bit of damage, but luckily it is generally confined to the Engine Room and Laz and I am hopeful that there will me little structural damage to repair. We won't really know till we take everything out of the engine room and pull away the insulation. Hopefully a new coat of paint and a few minor repairs will be all that are needed, then new insulation, and all the gear gets reinstalled (mostly new items other than gen-set, transmition and engine that will be repaired once removed). No real idea of timing yet, but it will take quite some time. The good news is that I am acting as Project Manager with 16hrs a week agreed by the insurance as acceptable, plus I have a job offer from the electrician and the yard to work with them on removing, and reinstalling the equipment, so once I get my paperwork done, I will have a working visa too (still figuring out those details). I also got a new car. A 1991 BMW 525i that was very well cared fore and in great shape.
It was quite the deal at auction from Turners and drives great, plus a comfy rear seat and big trunk if I have company. You can see the boat with tent over the cockpit, 20' storage container, and the caravan which they are going to keep there for a few more weeks as it makes a nice office for me and saves a parking space at Bruce's house. This last weekend the weather was terrible so I didn't do much other than drive around, do a little shopping, and get my lay of the immediate land. Unfortunately the forecast for next weekend isn't much better, but it is a long weekend (anniversary day I believe) so I will try to figure out something to do that won't be completely ruined by rain. I managed to run into the crew of Lady K who I had met in Tahitti today. They are in the yard for 3 months, have rented a house just over the hill, and will hopefully be good friends while I am here.
