Today the bearings, shaft, and propeller are being installed at the boatyard, and then the R/V David Folger will be put back in the water. However, it will take 24 hours of “soaking” for the hull to realign itself before shaft alignment and sea trials can be completed. If all is well, the Folger will be underway by noon on Friday (the 31st). Keep the positive vibes coming that this will happen!
In the meantime, we (Tom, Chris, and Richard) have all worked on other issues that we had already discovered, such as dealing with the dead band in the rudder assembly and the non-functioning water cooler, cleaning barnacles off the transducers, repairing the speed log (which mechanically measures boat speed through water), sending the malfunctioning Knudsen echo sounder deck unit back to the company, making modifications to the wheelhouse, and programming display parameters, just to mention a few. We will very relieved to get the Folger on the water once again.
Pat won’t be able to join the crew because she needs to head back to Middlebury for her First Year Seminar next week, so you’ll be hearing more from me as the journey proceeds.