Well, that was interesting. Lots of polished metal, hand rubbed varnish on
exotic woods, acres of teak deck. Nothing for me to fix here. The whole
d%^*ed thing was computerized! Big screen TVs in the staterooms that got a
more channels than I get at home and could link to the ship's systems to
display everything from the GPS charts to the EGT. I wouldn't be suppressed
if the heads monitored what I had for dinner the night before. Talk about
feeling useless, I couldn't even keep my wine glass empty.

The upper decks were nice but the engine room was a thing of beauty and a
wonder to behold. A pair of V20 MTU 4000s surrounded by enough pumps,
gensets, A/C compressors and water makers to keep a small city running. I
could retire on what one of those exhaust elbows cost. Even a full machine
shop that opened up to the "dinghy" hanger.

The down side was that we didn't up anchor but once and smoking only on the
swim platform. Oh, it was 30F in ATL when I got off the plane last night
and Spirit lost my bag with jacket and long pants.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com