Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Commissioning Moonstruck
Alan's Log:
Joan's Log:
August 3rd, 2006
Well here we are in Fort Lauderdale! The tropical storm scheduled for this weekend seems to be abating - just as well as our boat is now due to arrive next Monday in Port Everglades. We are busy shopping and making plans, and getting lost at every destination... More laterAugust 6th, 2006
We are now settled into our condo in Fort Lauderdale for the next 3 weeks or so. All of our 28 boxes (save the last minute one that is not expected till next week) have now arrived with minimal damage which is a great relief. We both are experiencing some culture shock, life in south Florida is not quite what we are used to in the Pacific Northwest. And where are the Starbucks?!!? I think we have only seen 2. Our condo is in a great location a couple of blocks from the ocean/beach and on one of the main roads with good access to shops/restaurants and a nice pool/hot tub up on the 5th floor, high enough to catch the breeze from the ocean . It is incredibly hot here, over 100 degrees F when the sun shines, we hit the gym, beach and pool this weekend while we await the arrival of Moonstruck.August 7th, 2006
Arrival of our boat is now delayed till the morning of Thursday August 10th due to congestion in the port.August 10th
2006
She Floats!
The years of planning and all the waiting
are worth it. Today we stood aboard Hull #53 (to be named Moonstruck) as
she was lowered gracefully into the water from "Atlantic Castle" the ship that
brought her here from Taiwan.
Luckily we were the first boat offloaded (also the smallest!). The largest was an 85' Motor Yacht.
As she touched the water we started up the engine and a few minutes later powered away on our first tiny voyage along
the canal system through the middle of downtown Fort Lauderdale to the Marina where we will be rigging her.
It was fitting that in the background a Crowley RoRo was loading cargo (above right).
We expect to spend about 3 weeks rigging, fitting electronics and in sea trials before we leave Florida. We are under a tight time constraint because we have committed to sail Moonstruck up to Newport Rhode Island in time for her to be included in the Newport Boat Show. We have to be there in exactly four weeks!
August 20th, 2006
We are still in the commissioning process. Half the electronics are now installed, the mast goes up tomorrow (we hope), the watermaker is installed and the stern arch is positioned and tack welded and ready for final welding and finishing. We have taken a few days off with Mary Cary who is visiting us from Texas. We are having a great time, yesterday we visited South Beach Miami, a real cultural melting pot, and got to see a new Lamborghini Murcielago & a new Bentley Continental GT parked outside one house, and a block away policemen on bicycles were making a drug bust.August 23rd 2006
We have been taking baby steps but today we took a big step. Mast, Boom, Whisker Pole and Vang were all installed today. Yesterday we were delayed by weather. Today a guy showed up looking for electronics help for his Hunter 33' (a boat I once owned) which was struck by lightning in the Marina yesterday, so I guess I feel better about delaying the mast work that was scheduled for yesterday.We also have a new and improved completion date, now scheduled for next Tuesday 8/29. We are scurrying to provision, supply, and load while being mindful that many areas of the boat are still off limits for storage while electrical/electronics work continues. I am totally impressed with the calibre of all the guys working on the boat. They work solidly, safely and do beautiful work. Thanks Brad, Dave, Pablo and Rick.
Here are some pics of today's 9 hour day at the boat. Average temperature 95 deg F. Average humidity 95%. OSHA would be horrified at the conditions we are working in!
Joan spent the day provisioning and cooking for frozen food for our first offshore voyage next week.
August 31st, 2006
From August 23rd till we left Fort Lauderdale on September 1st it was simply too hectic and we were too worn out at the end of each day to update this page. It was a crazy week of shopping like mad in West Marine (a yacht chandlery), working on the boat (Alan) and provisioning and moving onto the boat (Joan). At the end of each day we collapsed exhausted, convinced we would never load all our possessions on board. When we finally departed Fort Lauderdale we only had to ship two boxes back home to Gig Harbor. However we did have to rename our Third Cabin "The Basement" and it will take us a while to sort THAT out!Next....We head out into the Atlantic Ocean. Our destination is Newport R.I. It's twelve hundred miles and about a week away.