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As a child I was told that the only man made object you can see from space is the Great Wall of China.  I was misinformed.   I now have photographic evidence that you can also see an Antares.   Using recently released former cold war technology, I have acquired photos from space which clearly show an Antares.  These photos are openly available from Bing maps.   Prepare to be blown away.

This photo below is of  the yacht basin and the YCA (Yacht Club de Argentino).   Having lunch here is one of the perks of buying a boat from Antares.   I recommend the salads, which are a nice alternative from the frequent Argentine asados.  The club has a wide collection of boats.   Some almost mega-yachts are being worked on in the yard, a bunch of classic plastic monohulls from the early days of fiberglass are in the water, and a few classic motor yachts and an equal number of sexy hi tech racing monohulls reside there too.   But, most importantly, there is often the most recently splashed Antares 44i.     The club has a feeling of an oasis but I often feel that way at yacht clubs.   YCA is protected by train tracks on one side and large trees on another.   I can imagine spending a few lazy afternoons relaxing at the club during our commissioning.

I now know you can see more from space than the Great Wall and a childhood lesson has proven to be untrue.   At least I know the tooth fairy is for real – I have the quarters to prove it.

Gail is packed for a factory trip but has postponed her flights. She packed 2 crates, 1 long box for poles (fishing and man-overboard), and 1 duffel.   The duffel is heavy and has the density of a dead body but I have been told it contains fishing gear, day mark signals and our ensign.

I am the reason for Gail’s postponement. I have been on the road for work for 4 out of the last 5 weeks.  (Singapore, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Germany, France,and twice to UK ).   Instead of bringing home a snow globe, I brought home a decent fight with the flu.   So I was banned from work by Doctor Gail.   After spending a bunch of days in the apartment my head is clear enough to type-progress from shivering while covered with 3 blankets and blasting heat.   Hopefully the health czar will issue a go to work pass soon.

Our Antares friends sent us photos updating us on the progress after hearing of Gail’s postponement.  Our boat (hull #44) is being built in tandem with #42.   This helps both boats since we get advantages of scale.  If the builders are installing a water maker they get to do it twice in a row.   Faster and easier.  Kind of like when you assemble IKEA furniture.  The first chest of drawers is slow but by the second you are slapping it together faster than a NASCAR pit crew changes tires.  I know this for a fact since I watched Gail put together tons of IKEA stuff for our London apartment.   If you need help with your IKEA assembly, email me and we can negotiate Gail’s rates.

Earlier in this rambling post I mentioned that the duffel contained day mark signals.   What the heck are day mark signals?  They are a way of communicating to other boats about your status.   During the night this is done through a selection of running lights.   During the day lights are useless so day mark signals are dictated by the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (COLREGs).   We purchased a cone to show when we are under sail and power.   When a sailboat is running the auxiliary (motor) and has a sail up it is considered to be a motor boat.   When we raise this cone we are making it clear to others what are the navigation rights we deserve.  We also purchased a ball which indicates when we are anchored.   At night the ball is lowered and replaced with the anchor light.   We did not buy a cylinder (constrained by draft), 3 balls (aground-I bet we will need it one day), or, a diamond (being towed).  Using day mark signals is not common but we strive to be as seamanship-like as possible.  Let’s see what happens when we hit the water.

 

Yesterday was a big day. I was nervous because after 17 years, I was flying to London to ask my bosses to take some time off. The office is not a university where sabbaticals are the norm.  This is akin to taking a year off from playing in the NFL.  Pessimists might say it’s like going to the prison warden and asking to live outside the walls for nine months. But the bosses were sympathetic and granted the wish so I have 9 months off, starting in June and ending in March.

The drawing was of my view from my seat on the flight home. Virgin Atlantic really works hard on the cool factor in their service. I actually started chatting with the couple and it tuns out they are visiting NY for fashion week. Both are B list movie stars. Actually they could be A list – I just don’t know them. [UPDATE:  He is Sam Claflin from the Hunger Games and she is Laura Haddock from UK TV shows.   You make the call, A list or B list.]

And since my drawing skills are not great, even their moms would not recognize them. You may wonder why they are facing each other? The reason is she is sitting on his foot rest which is part of the mechanism for converting the chair into a flat bed. She did return to her proper seat later.

I was reading the blog of Good Trade (née Barefeet) which is another Antares 44.   They posted a photo of Manhattan when they passed through Hells Gate in 2011.   Did karma tell them to post this photo since our apartment is in the background?   Small world!   Next time they should drop us a line in advance and we can invite them by for a cocktail.   Now that is a good trade.

Here is a link to their blog.

Here are a few Facebook posts I made during the storm.‎

984 millibars, new low. Looking at the window at Roosevelt Island which has been breeched by the East River, the lighthouse at the end of the island is now mid river.

 

“968 millibars now…. wind at 42 knots (gusts shy of 60 knots) tide out now”

 “Hells Gate Weather update: Breezy with occasional clouds. 45knots of sustained breeze and 962 millibars. Apartment building noticeably swaying so headed to the second floor gym for a workout. Avoiding all my north and eastern facing rooms and glass is flexing menacingly. South facing rooms are like being on the deck of a ship but much calmer. High tide coming at midnight for hell’s gate.”

“wind speeds that i am quoting are from the weather station. I am sure its blowing harder on our balcony but thinks it is not a good idea to go out there with my anemometer.”

“NEW RECORD. Apartment rocking so hard that sliding closet door is opening a closing on its own. Lucky I still have power as the downtown gang is out of power. Fireman are launching boats on ave a. go away sandy!”

 

The worst in terms of wind and barometer are over for the Upper East Side? I really hope all are safe. Winds are a mere 40 knots sustained. Heard the water rose almost to the front door of the bank. Does that mean the gold at the Fed is under water? Now I would go bobbing for those apples.

My visit’s second purpose was to start purchasing household and boat items to eventually load onto the boat. We spent all summer shopping online for items such as wrenches, hammers and drive tool sets (don’t worry, I still don’t know what that is) so that we could start our selection of items. I also aggregated a few household items such as pots and pans. One day we would be a floating home and needed to be self-sufficient enough to do everything from cooking all of our meals to performing minor repairs. Every item was catalogued in our Bento data base (thank you Jason) along with a photo, status and location.

How did we know what to buy? Books and blogs are overflowing with advice on this topic and you can spend your life surfing and making lists until your head explodes. Jason often comes home and needs to put the pieces back together. We had a great head start because previous owners Mark, Sarah, Neil and Shaun had assembled the best of list in an Excel spreadsheet. We thought a database would be easier to manage so have entered all of the items that we see in our future into Bento along with a few others. We supplement this with Springpad, a nifty web site that we use to save ideas for items that we might want to add. Springpad has companion iPad and iPhone apps so whether you are surfing or just walking around town, you can add an item to your Springpad list by clicking on a link or by taking a photo.

I arrived in Buenos Aires with 4 tubs and was met by my taxi who took me to our storage facility before heading to the factory. I also had a shopping list generated by Bento, listing all of the items that I was supposed to either just scout out and price or purchase while there. You can’t begin to imagine the volume of goods that need to be purchased. I was very happy that Ed and Maite were all set to accompany me on this mission.

Despite Maite’s fluent Spanish, it helped to have some data on the shops we were targeting.

I had printed out maps and location information for a few shops as well as the local Chandleries.

In addition to Walmart, we visited Easy, a Home Depot-like store. The best store is supposed to be Sodimac, near the Vincent Lopez airport. I didn’t have enough time on this visit but it will be first on my list for next time. I was able to buy a variety of items including fuel cans, towels, ‘Prohibido Fumar’ signs and the elusive oil filter wrench. I was also happy to be able to report back to Jason that Dremelville exists in Argentina as well. Same goes for WD-40, which I saw in many places, as well as Loctite.

One of our best finds was at Trimer – an oil pump for changing oil. I can’t wait to try it out.

By the time I left Argentina, I had a better idea of what we should wait to buy and what we should be stocking up on in advance of our next visit. To finish up some of our houseware shopping and for a bit of tourism, we headed to Puerto de Frutos in Tigre. Puerto de Frutos is a true working port. Riverboats from Tigre, motor through all of the inlets upriver to reach houses with no other access to goods. We finished our shopping excursion with a visit to Frog (http://www.frogbazar.com.ar/menu.html). Frog stocks lots of colorful items such as towel racks, containers and other housewares.

Shopping made us hungry, so we found a nice place to eat. All of us ate omelets, except for Rob, who opted for the “bigger than his head” sandwich. Of course, I was only thinking of my after-lunch helado. After another trip to the storage facility to deposit our purchases, I was ready for the trip home. Maybe I had too much fun to call it work, but I did feel as if I made a bit more progress and was well-prepared to do even more on our next visit.

 

Building a boat is no different than building a home. There are construction workers, electricians, plumbers and project managers. Just like a house, there is a sequence for the various stages and just like a house, you can expect delays but you can’t really predict them. Our builder works on a few boats at once and these form a queue, which you can’t jump.

Exciting news for us was in June when the first real progress on our boat was made – the hulls began to be formed in the molds. Now that a few months had passed, I headed to San Fernando, Argentina again to see the work in action. This visit was all work – boat visit and shopping mission – but I was caught having some fun as well.

My visit overlapped with Rob’s (Antares) and with Ed and Maite (Hull 4445). Besides being great company, Maite also is an excellent videographer and we are thinking of employing her again in the future. All three of them were able to head out on the River Plata aboard Ona (Hull 4439), the recently launched boat. I missed the sail but was eager to look at the final product, as it was the first (and maybe last – painting is time consuming) blue Antares.

 

 

 

Ona is sort of a model home for us. I got to check out all of the new features and to try to answer crucial questions, such as – where will I sit with no co-pilot chair? Fortunately, I solved that question right away. Next question was – what will the new lounge chair be like? Answer – wonderful. The challenge will be who can wake up early enough to claim the chair for the day. I wonder if it will be sufficient to put your towel on the chair, sort of like at a beach resort. Don’t worry about the mess – the builders are finishing a few last minute items in advance of the owners’ visit in a few days. Phew – that was hard work. It was time to take a break at the Yacht Club Argentina.

At the factory, I was able to look at hull 4440. This boat was about 6 weeks away from launch. At this stage, all of the electronics are in the boat and the builders were focused on the metal work and other final touches.

I still hadn’t seen Two Fish but just a glimpse of the project document was enough to make me happy.

On the next day, we went to the fiberglass factory so I could finally see the start of our boat.

Working backwards, here is Hull 4441, almost ready to move to the finishing factory. Her deck is attached so engines, pluming, electrical, all major woodwork and tanks are already installed. I is tough to predict now when we will be at this stage.

Our partner boats are 4442 and 4445. Because our launch dates are relatively close, we spend the most time with them discussing strategies, options and general boat topics. 4442 is an electronics nut who

finds fairly nifty items – like our newly added underwater lights. More often than not, once we hear of his new gadget, we respond with “We’ll have one of those too”. Here is 4442, getting ready for the next week’s deck install. The week after my visit was going to be a big week at the factory. 4441 was moving to the finishing factory, 4442 was getting its deck and moving to the on deck circle and 4444 would be moving to the almost on deck circle. Sort of like when the announcer at a ball game says the winning run is in the dugout.

By now, you are wondering where Two Fish is. Climb aboard. It was amazing to actually see a hull. It would have been even better had Jason been there and I took lots of photos to try to give him

the bird’s eye view. Standing in our future home made it all feel real. Just like during our apartment renovation in its early stages, I didn’t know enough to comment on the work being done. The important thing was that progress was being made. It almost seemed as if it could float. All we need now is a sail, right? Both of our hulls were out of the mold and they were being joined by the hull bridge. One of the fiberglass workers was attending to the points where the hulls meet the bridge.

Our bulkheads and stiffeners were also being installed. Now we just had to wait for 4442 to get her deck so that they could start the process of putting our deck in the mold. Here is a view of the bridge mold from the outside:

Besides the actual hull, other components were built and ready for install. The heads are made of fiberglass and help to stiffen the hull. The cherry veneer wood work is carved at the factory. All of the pieces are made in advance and I examined the pieces that I saw to look for the 44 label. The final boat in the queue 4445 was one step back from Two Fish. At this point, 4445 has two hulls in the mold  and is waiting for our bridge to be ready for cleaning and prep for their boat.

Great news when I returned to the factory the next day. Our bridge mold was off and we officially have a hull. I can’t wait for our next visit.

 

Since we are still in NY waiting for our boat, we are living vicariously through the current owners. In addition to reading their blogs, we look forward to their visits to NY so that we can hear more and hear their opinions regarding the ins and outs of the boating life. The appetizers were a hit and Sarah thinks they’ll be great for Sundowner parties so I have posted my first recipe (Mini-Buffalo Chicken Balls).

Last week we were lucky to host Field Trip (svfieldtrip.blogspot.com).  They rode the subway from the Harlem Yacht Club at City Island and headed over for a fun evening of boat chat. I think the children enjoyed the long hallway for advanced hot wheels moves. They spent the rest of the week in NY, seeing the sights and visiting friends.

We dream of sailing in the waters around Manhattan and were eager to see an Antares sailing by. Having missed the last Antares that sailed up the East River, Chris and Erin on Barefeet, we did not want to sleep through this one.

We woke up early on Sunday morning and waited for the departure text. I set up the camera on our balcony and Jason raced down to the river to get a closer view. While the boat is slower than the cars on the nearby FDR, it still went by way too fast for our taste. We would have preferred being able to savor the moment a bit more.

For now, we can enjoy looking at the photos and dreaming of Two Fish’s future sail in the same waters.