{"id":232,"date":"2014-07-31T23:05:45","date_gmt":"2014-07-31T23:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=232"},"modified":"2014-07-31T23:05:45","modified_gmt":"2014-07-31T23:05:45","slug":"how-to-eat-an-elephant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=232","title":{"rendered":"How To Eat An Elephant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_0909\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We have to keep reminding ourselves of this advice as we nibble our way through what\u2019s turned out to be a monster project. Especially as we seem to have taken on an elephant that likes to waltz. For every step forward we seem to take one back and a couple sideways. For instance, our new (undamaged) wall oven arrived last week. It\u2019s the same brand as the old one (in fact it\u2019s the only LPG wall oven on the market), so it shouldn\u2019t be too hard to install. But the manufacturers in their wisdom have made the new model 5\u201d shorter than the old one (see, we\u2019re getting the hang of this imperial measurement stuff again). And the gas fitting is also a smaller diameter than the old one. So now we have to change fittings and possibly hoses AND find some timber facing board to fill in the gaps. It\u2019s starting to feel like we\u2019ve bitten off more of the dancing elephant than we can chew.<\/p>\n

In light of all this, I thought it was time for a little morale-boosting exercise, so here\u2019s a look at what\u2019s been keeping us busy over the last 6 weeks:<\/p>\n

One tonne of gear has been stowed away (somewhere!)<\/p>\n

New fresh water pump installed, new hoses fitted. No more leaks!<\/p>\n

The water tanks are finally cleared of the disgusting pink antifreeze after many flushes and addition of water purifier.<\/p>\n

5 new deck hatches installed.<\/p>\n

AIS receiver and transponder installed (and working!)<\/p>\n

HF radio installed (and working!)<\/p>\n

All four cabins and companionways repainted.<\/p>\n

Fans wired in to all cabins<\/p>\n

Additonal 110v and 12v outlets wired in.<\/p>\n

Two new engine tachometers installed.<\/p>\n

New Rocna 33 kg anchor and 100m of chain (correct type!) installed<\/p>\n

New wall oven (partially) installed \u2013 see above<\/p>\n

New galley cupboard latches & drawer sliders fitted<\/p>\n

New genoa cars fitted<\/p>\n

Mainsail removed for cleaning and repair<\/p>\n

Insect screens made for various hatches<\/p>\n

New portable freezer purchased and installed<\/p>\n

TV screen purchased and installed<\/p>\n

Stack pack for mainsail half-completed (my main project for the next week)<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also fitted out the galley and cabins with new utensils, crockery and bedding, as what was left on the boat wasn\u2019t fit for human consumption.<\/p>\n

Hmmm, we\u2019ve had a bit on it seems!! (And the plastic has been getting a serious workout). I\u2019m in absolute awe of Bruce \u2013 he\u2019s done all the installations himself, most of them entailing much crawling through impossibly small spaces in the heat and humidity. (I\u2019m convinced boat-builders are a particularly sadistic lot who like to make it as hard as possible to get to the vital access points, even on a big catamaran). Much as I\u2019d like to say that Bruce also completed these tasks with a smile on his face and a song in his heart, I can only report that he\u2019s well and truly safe from being canonized any time soon \u2013 his already extensive vocabulary of swear words has grown exponentially in the last 6 weeks!<\/p>\n

We\u2019re hoping there\u2019s light at the end of the tunnel, but\u2026\u2026still on the list is getting the water-maker operating (or buying a new one), installing holding tanks and the new anchor windlass, replacing one solar panel and 2 more hatches, installing new running rigging and the new trampoline netting (if it ever arrives), making new mattress covers for all cabins, buying the BBQ and LPG tank (can\u2019t have an Aussie boat without a barbie!!), repairing the genoa, getting a new bimini cover made (didn\u2019t think I could tackle that one), installing a new mainsheet traveler car, getting the life-rafts serviced, organizing safety equipment and medical kit and so on, and on\u2026\u2026oh, and trying to find a secondhand spinnaker for all that downwind sailing we\u2019re hoping to do. Eventually.<\/p>\n

We might get off the dock one day. Let\u2019s hope it\u2019s before the end of October!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  We have to keep reminding ourselves of this advice as we nibble our way through what\u2019s turned out to be a monster project. Especially as we seem to have taken on an elephant that likes to waltz. For every step forward we seem to take one back and a couple sideways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-svtoucan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6B46t-3K","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":234,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions\/234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}