Commissioning: Day 3 - A Beehive of Activity

The boat was a beehive of activity as we arrived for our 9:30 AM appointment with Stuart from Computer Lettering, the company who will be installing the boat's name.  

Captain Randy, the head of the commission project, was in the process of fueling the boat from a fuel truck.

Deborah had just received the barrel chairs. They look great, are very comfortable and are sized well for the space.

Chris, from Concord Electronics, was busily at work certifying the navigation, entertainment and security systems.  Note: The multifunction screen to the left shows the transom, which is helpful for backing into a slip.  The one to the right shows the engine room.

Garmin 7215 (15" touch screen showing video camera views)

46" TV & AV Cabinet

Woofer and other entertainment equipment

Paul was installing head (bathroom) hardware and mounting fire extinguishers while Scarlet was involved in some housekeeping activities down below.

Fire extinguisher mounted in VIP hanging locker

While all this was going on we had our discussion with Stuart on the location of the boat's name.  The name will be black with a silver shadow, 72' long and centered on the transom with the end of the word "Guided" and the beginning of the word "Discovery" residing on the lazarette access door.  The SARASOTA, FL hailing port will be sized to fit on the door.  Stuart will also apply the name to the side boards and to the throw rings.

Stuart, who has been in business since 1982, stated that we should not be concerned with the transom's convex shape as it would not detract from the sign's appearance. I think he's right but the proof lies in the result.

Let me give you a sense of the hustle and bustle.  As soon as we finished with Stuart, Steve from Anchor Petroleum declared victory (fueling was completed) and requested payment.  As I walked with him to the truck, the AB DLX 13 tender, which arrived by water, turned into the slip and docked along side our boat.

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Then they lifted the boat using the davit.  A very brief discussion ensued on the tender's location.  The options were to locate it athwart ship at the aft end of the boat deck or centered along the keel as originally planned.  We stayed with the plan as moving the tender aft would sink the props just that much lower. 

Side Note: A few day ago we talked with owner of a 73 foot motor yacht who was in process of upgrading his davit so that it would turn horizontally under hydraulic power.  He explained that when he lifted his 16 foot tender, probably weighing 1400 LBS, he had difficulty pulling the tender on board due to the list created by its hanging to one side (i.e., having to pull it up hill).  Oops.  I could not recall whether the davit on the 63 was full power.  I was relieved to see that it was.  This will make it easy for us to raise and lower the tender.

Tender aboard

Measuring chock location to ensure perfect alignment with the boat's centerline

Side Note: The AB DLX 13 is a 13 foot RIB with a 60 HP Yamaha.  She weights in at 1,000 LBS fully loaded.  Our Caribe DL 11 with a 30 HP Tohatsu had a top speed of 33 MPH with just me aboard.  Add Diana and Kodi and the speed dropped to 25.  Add two more adults and the Caribe would not plane, which relegated us to hull speed of about 8 MPH.  I expect that the AB will top out around 38 with one aboard, cruise at 30 with the three of us and, hopefully, cruise at 25 with four adults and a dog.  We'll see.

AB DLX Sister Ship

We took on 950 gallons of diesel at a very reasonable $3.56 per gallon (plus $.33 in sales tax and fees - marina access and environmental).  This was 350 gallons short of total capacity (1,300 gallons).  Captain Randy wanted to leave room for moving fuel around as part of my training on the fuel system.  Note: Fuel prices at marina are averaging $4.50 before tax and fees.  We saved close to a $1,000 on fuel.

All this happened before we left at 11:15.  Outer Reef is proceeding at warp speed to get the boat ready for the Miami Boat Show.

Written by Les.