I am starting to get goose bumps in the 90 degree weather… Tears of joy come at odd times. Our delays have all turned into a collective, “I’m so glad we discovered and fixed it now, instead of at some later inconvenient time!”. I go to bed feeling like I accomplished something everyday – tired, showered and happy. We will install the improved bow pulpit today hopefully… after welding an additional brace, and polishing (sounds easy). Soon we will start installing the engine accessories (water pumps, heat exchangers, coolant header tank etc.), that are in several instances repaired or replaced due to hidden leaks/corrosion etc. All old parts that were serviceable are sandblasted, primed and painted. Again, I am so glad inspecting them found parts that needed replacing or fixing – better now than when out in the ocean. I see some people buy boats and sail away, mostly I read their blogs about having to scout for parts in remote places or pay extra in shipment/duties for them, or worse, kludge things to keep them working. There will always be the unexpected, but why not avoid the avoidable – especially when you plan to have special guests on board and want them to enjoy and feel relaxed. We are attempting to do just that. Over this past year and a half, we have come to know our boat/systems the same way as we knew a house after living in it for ten years. The boat refit experience has been a teacher of patience for me! When we started, I thought I had patience. I do… with patients. I have learned that the process of readying a boat is similar to helping a person that had many rough years in their lives, just as many boats do – ranging from sheer neglect to not knowing any better. We don’t know much history of this boat but evidently she has seen many years of neglect in the past. As we work to bring this boat around, we have gradually developed a relationship with her. Her previous owner named her “Touché”, and we have yet to give her a new name – which we will, once we get to know her better. As a joke, recently I took off the letter T and the é, acknowledging all the scrapes, scratches, bumps and bruises she has given us over the last year and a half – some call these “boat bites”. Amazingly, she got the point, and has stopped biting us ever since! Well… almost 🙂 She is coming around to being the Orion 50′ back to her original glory and beauty, as intended by her well known designer. Both forward bedrooms (aka staterooms), that currently serve as parts and tool depots, will soon be back to being bedrooms for families with special needs and we will be living our mission…