I haven't posted lately because we've been putting in 12 hour days working away at our prelaunch checklist. We're making progress, but we still have some big items left to go (like selling the car and getting the boom back from the rigger and installed). The days here have been glorious, but the nights are getting colder. The combination of 50 degree nights and no heat on the boat makes it very hard to get out from under the covers in the morning.
Our first week back in the boat yard we made great progress. But we've had a few setbacks this week. A fitting that we ordered from the rigger two months ago was lost in the mail last week somewhere between the anodizer in Auckland and here. So, we went back to square one on that project, delaying our launch until early next week. I'm pretty good at sanding, painting, varnishing and caulking, but after a frustrating few days, I can now confirm that I am the world's worst hull waxer. The wax came out all swirly and streaky. Not exactly the high-gloss look I was going for. Sten, who is typically pretty handy at all things mechanical, also managed to set off a mini fireworks display in the engine room while attempting to reinstall the alternator. So it had to come back off and go back to the shop to get rebuilt.
Our visitor's permits expired yesterday, so we are now illegal aliens. According to Opua Customs, there is a one week grace period before we have to alert Immigration that we are still here. After that, we just have to keep them informed of our intended departure date. When we made the decision to not renew our visas we expected to be back in the water by now and on our way up to Opua to wait for a weather window to leave the country. But at this rate, we'll be lucky to get ourselves back up to Opua before the week is out.
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