The yard period has demanded a huge effort from both the Neptun team and from the shipyard. Fortunately, work is progressing steadily, and the last two months have given new life onboard. When in the middle of the chaos and mess of a shipyard it can be hard to imagine the final product. The ship is barely recognizable right now with her masts and rigging removed and sandblasted hull. It will appear unfinished right up until the end, and then suddenly Neptun will shine again before setting out into the Pacific Ocean to continue on her circumnavigation as a brigantine.
What have we done while waiting for the container and the rigging?
Unfortunately, the 40 foot container on its way from Denmark has been held up in Mexican customs for over a month. It has been frustrating to know that it is sitting in a container port just a few hours south of us since the end of January, yet remains out of our reach. Many of our shipyard projects are waiting for materials from the container to be completed. However, that has left us with plenty of time to focus on other things and prepare for the containers arrival, and there has been no shortage of work to do.
The extra time has allowed us to rust bust and paint all turnbuckles and overhaul basically all wooden parts of the vessel. This includes new pinrails, a new cap rail on the new railing, new mast wedges, new blocks and preparing a whole load of materials for varnishing.
Tobias and Emil working on the new wooden cap rail.
In the aftship, we have cleaned out and prepared the area for living, so that we can move onboard the ship again soon. The same goes for the galley, foreship and salon, but there is still a ways to go on that because of the construction of the new keel. So far, two of the vertical steel posts have been welded to the existing frame on the inside of the ship. The heavy new keel (ten tons!) will increase stability, a necessary improvement since our new square sails and rigging are going to add weight aloft.
In the engineering department we have been working on a long list to improve our electrical system, bilge system, firefighting system and blackwater system.
The 48 volt battery bank has just been installed and brought into operation, and will from now on power the new induction burners in the galley used for cooking. This improvement means that we can cook much more efficiently and also that we do not have to source propane all around the world. It also means that we do not have to worry about running out of propane on long crossings again!
Meet our new skiff NEMO
Recently, we traded our two old dinghies for this wonderful fiberglass lifeboat ‘NEMO’ and started refitting it to go on the voyage. Our hope is that NEMO will be a very strong and stable crew transfer boat, so that we can transport our crew and provisions in the future with ease. After the boat has been painted we will make it ready for hoisting on the davits.
The masts and the rigging
The masts are nearly finished, and ready to be sandblasted and painted. They have been refit to carry the new rigging and cut shorter by about 3 meters each.
When that is done we will install all antennas and electrical equipment along with the standing rigging on the masts.
Life outside of the shipyard
The Neptun crew plays just as hard as they work! We all spent most of last weekend participating in the Mazatlan Carnaval celebrations: fiestas in the street, a simulated naval battle, and a giant parade! We are still recovering from all the churros…
Container update!
In the middle of writing this, the last certificate for our shipping container was approved and the container was finally delivered! We are celebrating that we now have everything we need to get NEPTUN back in the water soon.
