Yay!

Allie named this post to reflect her mood.  All of the Burnetts are happy.  Marvin is back in the water!  Exciting times!

Please forgive Mel for not posting for a while.  The Burnetts have been busy and exhausted.  Normally, packing up and then stowing 1000 things in the only place they fit puts one in a bad mood.  Not this time.

The last few days on the hard were quite busy for Marvin, with the fiberglassers furiously trying to make some screwy blue gelcoat look good while Pepe and his sons were busy hooking up the engines.  Despite the fact that MaxProp changed their mounting arrangement without updating their installation instructions, Greg managed to put the MaxProps on the very morning the boat went into the water.

In the last moments of boatyard life, the giant crane was busy lifting two other boats.  Marco, our insurance rep, was inspecting the work.  The Burnetts allowed themselves to get excited for the first time in a while.  Just as the crane was about to hook up Marvin, Mel heard a scream from Greg.  She ran around to the port side of the boat, imagining him dangling off of the deck, only to find him pointing in disbelief to the forward portside saloon window.  It had a giant crack in it, running from bottom to top.  You could fit a Euro in it.

The crack was new, with no signs of trauma, and in the end we attributed it to uneven loading while the boat was not quite level on the hard.

“I don’t care what caused it, but we’re not stopping for this.  We are going to seal it, duct-tape it, and head out anyway!” said Greg.

Mel (and Marco): “Agreed!”

Oh yeah, 3M 5200 and duct tape has gotten more than one boat across the Atlantic!

Of course, the starboard engine bilge pump went off a couple of times after Marvin was back in the water.  After multiple experiments it was determined that it did not come from compromised fiberglass but rather a combination of a bad seal in the engine hatch and an aggressive boat washing.  More sealant to the rescue!

Marvin is currently docked in a regular slip in the Puerto Rico marina, despite the absence of rudders.  Having two engines to maneuver over here from the boatyard comes in handy!  Greg is right now picking up the rudders from the airport after a delay in shipping of several weeks.  Most recently, the problem was that the crate was repeatedly bumped off of the necessary British Airways flight from South Africa by bicycles belonging to participants in a massive race.  Aaargh!  Race you to Barbados, bikers!  Oh, you’ll sink in the water?  Too bad!  Eat Marvin’s brand new butt glass!

Anyway, the entire Burnett clan has fallen into their doughy mattresses at night indulging in their worm-free, ant-free, spider-free, roach-free, mildew-free, septic-smell-free boat.  I am sorry to report that not a tear was shed for Skylar IV or Donald VII, members of our extended insect family that we left back in the apartment.

After some more work on the engines, rudders, deck, and engine hatches we should be ready to sea-trial Marvin by this weekend, and then we are off!

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