Stainless Steel Cordon Bleu
September 2, 2007
This log is not about some new culinary craze involving metallic chicken. The story is more involved and quite a bit tastier. We have fallen into the pattern of visiting Makara every week during her commissioning. The siren song of Makara and the sea is so compelling it easily overrides the discomfort of the 155 mile one way trip. Soon enough we will be visiting even more often and eventually not leaving her at all.
Most of the major commissioning installs are now completed by Wagner Stevens. There are some things here and there to tidy up and a few systems that need some tweaking but we are confident she will be in good order for her debut in the Annapolis boat show. We started in earnest this weekend to add our own touch to the process. The first big news, and this is where the stainless steel comes in, is that the arch has been installed on here stern. What a beauty! All the elements from the solar panel mounts to the small antenna mounts are spot on. The location for the eventual satellite communications antenna (Fleet 33) ended up on a small riser, to allow for the solar panels. There is an outboard motor lift and two video camera mounts to allow the off watch to keep an eye on the cockpit and foredeck area. We thought that would be useful piece of technology since we are a double handed crew. Also this provides a security camera of the companionway when we are either below or away from the boat. It even works at night! Aesthetically it is a pretty arch, made by Kato Marine, who the locals refer to as the Tiffany of welders, and it provide many useful mounting opportunities for other gear as we go on our travels.
Most of the running rigging, after lengthy consultation, is now in place. The rigging supporting the mast has yet to be tensioned and tuned. This will occur later this month once the sails arrive and we take Makara out for her sea trials. It seems this is going to be quite an event as everyone from the riggers, to the sail maker, to the builder of the boat want to be on board for her initial sail. It was fortunate we were on hand in Annapolis the Friday before Labor Day. We went a day earlier than normal so we could interact with some of the contractors on open items. The canvas fabricators from North Sails came by for more measurements and since we were on board they could measure our heights for constructing the dodger. Good thing, we are both rather tall and now I won’t have to duck to get under it! We also made a couple visits to Accent Graphics to pick colors and look at the final proofs for Makara’s logo.
As of this trip all our basic fire extinguishing equipment is installed. We have more than complied with the Coast Guard regulations. We both have training and have fought actual onboard fires (on a charter boat – another sea story for another time). They are not pretty and you want plenty of reserve fire fighting capacity. We have three small BI and one large BII (the hail Mary extinguisher) on board. The BII is big and heavy, and it was a major mechanical install. We have one more specialized unit to install, which is a Halitron extinguisher for the electronics area. A dry powder extinguisher would completely ruin a fair fraction of the electronics assuming we got the fire out before this expensive equipment melted.
Our ships clock and barometer are now mounted. A nice Weems and Plath Martinique set. The tide clock was a birthday gift to Nancy from her team at work and we thought it would be lonely so we got the barometer to match. We mounted the salon speakers for the future stereo and the LCD monitor for the ships computer. We were quite busy. It takes about three trips to various chandleries and hardware stores to find just the right hardware to mount stuff. Par for the game.
We have found that we can never quite finish our task list. We are anxious to get Makara’s bell mounted on the boat prior to her upcoming christening. Given the size and weight of the bell and the need to move it topsides in fog this is not as simple as putting in a couple of screws. We often joke that we approach projects “like we are building a space ship” with Judy being the more conservative. In the case of the bell there are special brass screws to be located, brass backing plates to be fabricated, head liners to be disassembled and bulkheads to be drilled. A lot of steps, but not too complicated. The thing is, on a boat, every project always takes twice as long as you anticipate no matter how well you plan. Such is the case with the bell.
Now, you are probably asking how does Chicken Cordon Bleu fit in with all these projects? Well, we have been carrying a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne back and forth from Annapolis since the day Makara first arrived. Despite our best intentions to drink said bottle of champagne, we could never quite find the right moment. This trip we stayed two nights, and on the second night after a full day of work we had a special dinner, our first on Makara! Now we had not yet set up the galley but we procured some nice pre-prepared food. There was pasta and potato salads, a wonderfully luscious crab cake and a lovely chicken Cordon Bleu. We did set up the ships microwave to warm the crab cake and chicken (worked nicely) and served on fine disposable china (courtesy of the local Giant supermarket). To compliment this momentous meal we finally opened the bottle of Champagne. Needless to say, the meal was scrumptious and the surroundings superb. All around a perfect moment taking in our beautiful boat, looking at our stainless steel arch, sipping Champagne and munching chicken Cordon Bleu.