Hi All,

Here’s a post straight from Steve’s blog which is a pretty good description of yesterday’s activities. I hid out in the master cabin reading a book on my iphone. The big breakthrough of the day was the diagnosis and fix of the hydraulic stabilizer system which had been causing a lot of consternation and frustration over the past couple of weeks.

Late in the afternoon we took AVATAR out for a spin to test the now-functioning stabilizers and enjoyed a two-hour sunset cruise from Whangarei Harbour out into the Pacific Ocean in search of waves. A pod of dolphins raced over to join us, the boat started surfing on following waves thereby picking up an extra 3 knots of boat speed, everything worked perfectly, and the crew of eleven (!) workers and head honchos aboard for this test run went home happy and celebrating a successful day at sea!

Today work is scheduled on the air conditioning system, also fueling up with 7,000 liters of diesel. Circa Marine goes on holiday tomorrow for a four-day Easter weekend and Rod, Mike, I and Steve Dashew are going to take AVATAR to a nearby island and enjoy the cruising life – although knowing Steve he will be poking his nose (and camera) into every nook and cranny checking out and fine-tuning each detail!

Here’s his blog link from yesterday: http://setsail.com/working-up-a-new-yacht-aka-commissioning-chaos/

Cheers
Carol