Commissioning: Day 5 - A Long but Very Productive Day

The day started at 9:30 AM.  The first task was to visit Sears to buy a tool box to mount in the engine room and return a blanket that was the wrong size to Macy's.  Fortunately both were in the Broward Mall.

While both were boat related, the tool box was the more complex challenge.  A little background.  At the Outer Reef June 2013 rendezvous we saw a great idea for storing tools during the "yacht hop" where we got to tour other owners' boats.  One owner had a stainless steel tray installed over one of the engines with a tool box mounted in the tray.  The approach placed the tools in the area where they are most needed.  We added the tray during construction. 

Now we needed the tool box.  I expected this acquisition to be relatively easy.  Well it was not.  First we were constrained by the 18 1/2 inch clearance between the base of the tray and the ceiling.  That constraint ultimately limited our choice to one Craftsman tool box and even then the box mechanism had to be modified to make it work. 

Tool box in the stainless steel tray mounted over the port engine

Notice in the photo above that the our ability to open the chest cover is limited.  That limitation renders the box useless as the cover must be fully opened to release the mechanism that locks the draws.  The Sears salesman explained that the lock mechanism could be deactivated by removing two pins.  The bad news is that the box cannot be locked.  The good news is that each draw has its own lock mechanism that prevents the draw from opening.  The draw handle must be lifted to open it.  Hence, in a rolling sea, the draws will not open and close with each roll.

The Broward Sears had one in stock.  Unfortunately, it was damaged goods.  The store in Plantation had three so we drove over there.  Why the rush you ask?  Simple. Outer Reef workers have the expertise to install the box right now!  Bottom line: Mission accomplished.

Next task.  Meet Mike Schlictig at 1:00 PM at Outer Reef's Fort Lauderdale office to review the closing paperwork.  That meeting, which included lunch, took over two hours and made us late for our 2:30 PM meeting with Deborah at the boat.  But again, mission accomplished.

We finally made it too the boat at 4:00 PM after stopping at the hotel to retrieve the bikes.  These were needed to verify if we would be able to store the bikes in the lazarette.  Good news.  The bikes fit through the lazarette access door.  Hurrah!

The bikes find a new home

Explanatory Note: During our 444 day Great Loop adventure the bike were mounted to the 48's bow rails.  This proved very problematic.  The bikes lived outside and did not "wear" well.  The covers were difficult to put on and fared poorly in any wind.  The covers had to be removed while underway as they restricted visibility and would have blown off.

Meanwhile, much was going on at the boat.  Chris, from Concord, had to rerun two cables that had not been installed properly.  One from the pilothouse to the top of the hardtop and one from the main deck to the VIP stateroom.  This had taken most of the day (not to mention some mess). 

With the cable issue was resolved, Chris declared victory.  The navigation and entertainment systems were now operational. 

Next step, activate satellite weather, radio and TV.  Now the bad news.  The process took over four (4) hours and was fraught with frustration.  I'll spare you most of the details but, in short, both companies, Sirius and Direct TV make the process as difficult as possible.  Starting with having to speak with their "friendly computer voice" that tries, unsuccessfully, to deal with you without human intervention.  It NEVER works for me.  I wonder if it works for you.  I wonder why these companies don't realize the time they waste and the dissatisfaction they create by putting each of us through their silly mazes.  Add poorly trained agents using scripts and procedures designed by morons and you just have to sit and wonder.   Oh well, it was not fun, but, mission accomplished. 

Oh did I mention that one of the agents deactivated one of our TV receiver's  ____ card requiring them to have to send out a new card.  Fortunately, I had Chris with me.  If I had attempted these activations on my own I probably would have drowned myself or gone postal.

And one more thing.  My cell phone ran out of juice during the Direct TV call adding to the frustration.  Fortunately, I had my portable charger in the car and, fortunately, the pilothouse has a jack and, again, fortunately, the agent called back as we were pondering how we were going to complete the process.

In between all of this craziness we got to see several new additions.  Our spreads and pillows had arrived as had the art glass sculpture purchased at the St Armands Circle Art Show.  Here are a few photos.  Pardon the mess, the poor photos and no photo of the glass sculpture.

Salon pillows

Flybridge settee pillows

Pilothouse pillows and table

 

Master with spread and pillow shams

Now it was 8:00 PM.  Diana and I were both whipped.

Guided Discovery at 8:00 PM

Finally, and this is probably the most important occurrence on the day.  The problem with the flybridge Stidd helm chair got resolved.  Background.  We goofed when we specified the chair's sand colored leather in an area that is all white.  That problem was further complicated by the mount that had been installed in Taiwan.  It was white.  The pedestal was sand as was the seat.  The whole thing was not quite right and would have been a constant source of displeasure.  We voiced our disappointment to Deborah who promised to look into it.  Outer Reef to the rescue.  They arranged with Stidd for a white powder coated pedestal and white leather seat.  Now the base, pedestal and seat will match and the white will match its surroundings.  Outer Reef has AGAIN EXCEEDED OUR EXPECTATIONS.

Speaking of expectations, R&L Carriers delivered our crate (8 feet tall, 4 feet wide and 4 feet deep) today and John, the dockmaster, put it close to the boat.  I dread the unpacking and loading.  Stay tuned.

U-Crate with stuff shipped from Chicago

All in all it was a very productive day.

Written by Les.