Eagle Ray jumping in Palm Cay marina

A rare posting by Martin! While enjoying happy hour on the flybridge we noticed two spotted eagle rays swimming in the marina. A rare enough sight as it is but then one of them jumped!

Amazingly, Paul was filming them. So we get to share the video with you all!

A year of travels

Ever since we left Blossom, I've been working on a little project to map our travels over the last year and I've finally finished!

Clicking on the picture below will bring up a Google Map showing our route over the last year as well as all of our stops. The distance between points is 0.075nm, so it's not as precise as I'd like, but it's pretty good.

Click for an interactive version

It's been a lot of fun and we're looking forward to starting up again in January!

Shipping Update and a note about AIS

Those of you trying to follow the progress of M/V Trinityborg will have noticed that she's been off the coast of Taiwan for several weeks now. This, of course, isn't actually the case but illustrates one of the limitaions of AIS. More on that in a moment, but first an update.

We get fowarded an email sent from the shipper to PAE with the latest update on Trinityborg. The latest read:

01/January/2014 – noon  (24 :00hrs UTC)

20*39.0 N  -  171*21.2 W

wind : W-3  -  sea-state : slight – swell: W 0,5m

speed: 14.6 knots

distance run last 24hrs: 349,6 miles -  distance to go Balboa 5541 miles

eta Balboa 17/Jan/2014 PM

eta Port Everglades 25-26/Jan/2014

That puts her a few hundred miles west of Hawaii:



Link to full map

AIS Limitations

Which brings us neatly to the limitations of AIS. Without going into too much detail, AIS is a system by which ships can broadcast their position, speed, and other details over VHS radio. In order to be able to receive this signal, the receiver must be within line of sight of the ship's antennae and have an receiving AIS system. In addition, in order to show up on the various websites, they must also share the AIS data they receive somehow.

For a ship the size of Trinityborg and a ground based antennae, line of site is probably not much more than 30 miles. This assumes that both sending and receiving antennae are 100 feet off the ground and that the sending radio is powerful enough for the receiving antenna to hear. 

We were hoping that that would happen near Hawaii, but apparently not.

I assume that the ship has been sending positional data to headquarters using satellites - radio or internet - which is how they know the details they know. AIS does not transmit wind or sea state.

I'll post up updates as we get them.

Oh so close... (picture heavy)

I must apologize to the handful of you out there who've actually been waiting for this post. I went to the yard, along with Jeff Merrill (our salesman) and Steve D'Antonio (Systems Engineer extraordinaire) a few weeks ago for the final yard inspection. Since I got back I haven't been home for more than a couple of days in a row and other "life-stuff" got in the way of my putting up this post. We got back yesterday from the Ft Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS). It was a very productive week in Florida and I'll discuss all the things we accomplished in preparation for commissioning in a later post. While at FLIBS we were able to see the latest 60 to cast off the commissioning dock - Chopin - and she's a beautiful boat. It only amplified our anticipation even more!

Back to the trip!

Before I walk through Blossom note that all the pictures are clickable for a larger version. If you've any questions or comments on what we've done - or why, please don't be shy to ask. We're proud of what Blossom is becoming and almost everything in her has been the result of much discussion and consideration.

This is also a very picture heavy, with over 200 in here, so I'm not going to start any until after the jump. Those of you that are bandwidth impaired be warned!

To Blossom!

Build Update

We're in the final stretch! In less than two weeks I fly out to Xiamen, along with Steve D'Antonio, for a final yard inspection. Last time I was there - mid July - the estimate for completion at the yard was the end of October. These photos are about two weeks old, so show Blossom with an estimated 6 weeks of work to be done. It's hard to tell whether that's still a good estimate or not. There's still some very big things missing - stack? - but we've already seen just how quickly the yard can work when the man power is allocated. You can see in the pictures below just how many workers are on the boat.

Pilot House

The main breaker panel is almost completed, which implies most of the wiring is probably done. Windows are in and the settee is built out.

Day head sink is in. Still no tile on the floor, port light in the window or toilet.

Another shot of the day head.

This shot clearly shows where the finished work work is covered with bubble wrap for protection.

The helm. When Blossom is commissioned, those white gaps above and below the windows will be covered with dials, gauges and screens.

A shot of the settee. 55/60 aficionados will detect the slight widening of the seat by the commensurate narrowing of the foot landing. Just a few inches in seat depth can make all the difference in comfort. 

Even the seat base boards have matching wood grain.

Tea Station (aka Captains Cabin)

Looking aft over the settee. The granite is in and they've started to prep for the wall covering.

View of the bed. Wide enough for a single, it's now more of a couch.

The Miele Speed Oven (microwave/convection combination)

Looking forward, the Vitrofrigo drawer fridge is in. Flush handles allow the drawers under the bed to open. Two drawers and a locker for supplies.

This shot, looking starboard, shows that there's going to be plenty of room to make tea :-)

Salon

Looking aft we can see that the windows are in, walls are prepped and the starboard aft cabinets are built. There was a lot of discussion about the difference in width between the upper and lower cabinets. Turned out OK. Scott - you were right. Again. :-)

Looking forward. We finally see what our changes have wrought and we're very happy!

Portside. Ready for the couch.

Starboard. Two Ekornes chairs and a table between them.

Stairs up to the pilot house. A sliding drawer under here for more storage. Note the notch in the wall to the left of the stairs? Another tweak to improve the open feeling. The stairs heading down to the utility room aren't quite so dark.

Galley

Tiled floor going in. So far the only appliance installed is the fridge/freezer. I presume the rest will go in after the tiling is finished.

Another shot of the floor. I really like the look. Great job Scott and Steph!

Counter top showing the fiddles protecting the wood around the stack. Backsplash tiles still to go in.

The locker on the left is called the "Spice Rack" by Nordhavn. We're going to rename it the "Sodastream cubby"

We really gained a lot of storage by not installing a microwave in the forward cabinets. Not needed as the oven will be another Miele Speed Oven. The cooktop is going to be induction. The angled corner cabinet is large enough to hold a full dinner service.

I'm hoping that the yard will be swapping the bucket for a trash compacter :-)

Master Stateroom and head

Looking good! Anyone notice the projector box?

The valance will hide the screen for the projector

A large mirror should help open the space out.

Close up of the projector box.

Sink in the master head. The counter top looks massive!

Nearly ready for the wall covering

Master shower is tiled and hardware is going in.

Tiled. Note the extra two drains foward? If Blossom is ever a little bow heavy, the shower will still drain.

VIP Stateroom and head

Looking forward. Some wall covering, a few doors and drawers (which have already been built) and this room will be done.

Steph's sewing table. Note the cutout for the sewing machine. The locker on the right is storage for the machine.

We widened the guest bed as much as we could. Note the small shelf outboard that will act as an end table.

Not much in the way of inset panels in this stateroom. The locker doors and drawers have the only panels.

The extra port light and the wall covering will really brighten up this room.

Steph is really happy with the natural light over her workspace.

Nearly done. Just the backsplash to go.

Shower locker

Seat and another locker in the shower.

More storage under the stairs between the guest stateroom and the pilot house.

Cockpit

The salon dutch door is installed - windows upper and lower. I'm happy to see that the davit standpipe is very stealth. Find it if you can!

It's a little obscured by a cover, but you can just make out the stern capstan hiding inside the cockpit seating. Look through the hole on the right!

Boat Deck

Not sure what I'm seeing here. This is the walkway beside the pilot house on the port side. Vent exhausts, perhaps?

Davit is installed and they've started to install the rails.

No ladder to the flybridge either. Hopefully it'll be added soon after the rails.

Utility Room

I'm not seeing much change in the utility room, though it's pretty much finished.

Bilge pump?

The custom locker is looking good. A nice place to store ear defenders and engine room checklists.

Engine Room

Nice shot of the main engine

The bank of valves is the send manifold.

The fuel return manifold

Wing engine

This space will end up being used for storage.

The hydraulics have been fully plumbed. This is the remaining valves and sensors needed that the monobloc couldn't hold.

Generator on the right, wing on the left.

Main transmission and clutched hydraulic PTO

Lazerette

Machinery getting installed.

Battery switches on the left. Battery box straight ahead.

There's a dive compressor under all that cardboard.

It looks like the watermaker has been installed.

So Blossom is getting there. Expect lots of pictures in a few weeks!