Progress: The Big Reveal
- Blue Tortuga
- Nov 30, 2022
- 3 min read
Now that we are in Cape Town, we have the opportunity to see our vessel IN PERSON for the first time. Walk on her hulls, crawl into her cabins, play in the kitchen, stand at the helm – and see the delay we had been warned about in person.
A little background, South Africa is dealing with a tremendous power outage issue – they call “load shedding”. Eskom (the government run power company) has an app that details where in the country by region the power will be off in order to allow people to make ‘arrangements’, if possible. That is incredibly difficult for companies that run large power equipment as they cannot be run on a little generator (i.e. three phase power items). What we have discovered now spending time in Cape Town, is that Yes, there is a schedule, Yes the power goes out on schedule AND off schedule, the schedule gets changed at the last minute, doesn’t happen at all according to schedule, but sometimes on schedule, plus other times. It is really all over the board – how on earth are companies supposed to function?
This is the screen shot of the app and the dramatic change in a short period of time between the stages of load shedding needed. The higher the stage the more power outages needed. You can see at the top of the screen the times these screen shots were taken. This is approximately a 24hr period of time. (The time keeping in South Africa is on a 24-hr time from so 03:08 is 3 AM and 13:51 is 1:51 PM).
Back to construction: as always there is more to the story, but let’s focus on Blue Tortuga.
We arrived at the factory and the place was humming.
Work progressing in the parking lot where Blue Tortuga’s hard bimini top was nearing completion.
This is the side of the bimini hard top that would be down (facing the deck).
The strip on the left hand side is demonstrating approximate placement of the track for the enclosure. They need to know the location in order to provide re-enforcement in the correct location.
A better view of the enclosure strip.
BELOW:
Pic #1: There is another section of the bimini that gets affixed to the underside. Pic #2: And what the hard top will look like once it is complete (this is a different boat in the factory).
We had delays created when the design to the bimini top was changed to be made larger to allow for more solar panels. This will all provide 1,680 Watts of solar. Pic #3: Is the confirguration adding 2 more solar panels on the updated bimini design. The red line represents where the traveler will be.
In the process the targa wing was removed - a design feature I really liked and (in my opinion) made the Admiral 40 a distinguished catamaran in the field. The targa wing is circled in yellow here.
In the end, the targa wing was removed and the bimini extension design and creation were put into play. The two extra solar panels will double our power generation.
Inside - To The Boat!
The size of the vessel is difficult to grasp when the boat is in the water and even more difficult from pictures. To provide an idea of just how large - this relatively small catamaran is:
Standing approximately 5ft 6” tall (or 1.7 meters) I cannot yet reach the top of the hull, standing about 4 feet (1.2 meters) above the bottom of the keels. This will provide greater safety in large waves at sea.
This is not your daddy's john boat!
Now let's get on with it. I can't wait to get my first steps on-board.
Wow! That is a climb up the steps - hard at work on the countertop install – what a great smile! This is a good omen!
The galley countertop is being cut and sanded for the perfect install. Countertop will also be added to each head (bathroom).
So, the delay is real, and we will be here to see it through to completion. Check back when we review all the components from metal fabrication to wood working to all the extras. Lots to do and a holiday too! More to come in two weeks.
See Instagram for a sneak peak at what is next. https://www.instagram.com/bluetortugasailing/
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