Tester Follies

This morning I stopped by Butch's store and bought more bathing suits. I had bought my old one there many moons ago, but with living in a tropical paradise having just one bathing suit wasn't cutting it anymore. I also helped Hy with a problem he was having with his fireplace; I've got it all figured out now but need to let him know the solution.

I did some sea-bed terraforming around the new GlamShack so I can get my schooner the Tester in and out. Afterwards I got on my surfboard, in my new bathing suit, and scouted out a route to take the Tester to the Savoy. We'll have to go between the new GlamShack and Mosie Island and then around Moxie Island to get there because of the low bridge connecting the Savoy to Moxie Island, but it's doable.

Mack and Case spent most of the day working on the new GlamShack; it's coming along very well. They are at the stage where they are hanging pictures on the walls, and the sound system seems to be working. In the evening I went and reviewed Isobela's work on the GOAT; it's coming along very well also. She was ready for a break so we went home, she changed, and we jumped aboard the Tester.

At first we tested the route to Savoy that I had scouted earlier. I was having real troubles controlling the Tester, as I had the last time we rode her. There is a heads-up display that lets you control the whole thing, raising and lowering all three sets of sails, from the cockpit at the back next to the wheel. The HUD kept giving random wind direction information, enough so as to make sailing almost impossible. When I lowered the sails and turned on the motor even that was troublesome, the motor kept cutting out. I don't think it was a problem with the engine, but rather the engine was getting bad information from the HUD.

We were able to make it to the Savoy; as we passed the new GlamShack Isobela shouted "Hi" to Mack and Case but I'm not sure if they heard her. We arrived at the Savoy shortly after DJ Cat's show had started. We were coming in the last leg on sail, and I had wanted to drop the sails and bring the stern of the ship around so that we ended up dead in the water right alongside the Savoy's pier. Unfortunately, due to HUD problems, I was unable to either lower the sails or turn, so we ended up ramming the dock right in the middle of Cat's show.

Fortunately there was no one standing on the dock at the time. I kicked the engine on, pulled us back out of the dock, and raced back the way we came. Isobela hid belowdecks until we were on the other side of Moxie Island and no one at the Savoy could see that she was with me. I think she's still laughing at me about it, and I can't really blame her.


As we passed back by the new GlamShack we pulled over next to the shore to talk with Mack and Case. They climbed aboard and we took off sailing. We rode by their place, and Hy and Tracy's, around a few of the islands on our property and back to the new GlamShack pier. I was very careful coming in to the pier this time, did it on motor at just a crawl, and docked very well. The little inlet where the pier is made it a challenge to turn around, though, and I kinda messed up the pier with my stern as we were leaving. That kinda stressed Mack out, even though I think it was Isobela who originally built the pier. I made sure it was as good as new before we left, though.


When we made it back home Isobela suggested that we check with the Tester's builder about the HUD problems, so we headed over to her new Trudeau Classic Sailing Yachts store. They had brand-new HUDs that you could install yourself stacked on the dock, so I picked up the Schooner Larinda model. We installed it right there at the Trudeau dock and took off to test it.

It works much better than my old broken one. The graphical user interface is very different, there are new symbols for just about everything, but I was able to figure it out without too much trouble. The ride was much smoother, the sails worked like a charm, and the motor had a nice, steady purr. I need to apologize to Mack and Case for the rough ride I gave them, that may have been why Mack kept falling overboard. The new HUD makes things much smoother. My next challenge will be to teach Isobela how to help with the sails.

While we were at Trudeau Classic Sailing Yachts I also looked at their Catamarans. I had taken one for a test drive months ago and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure if we have enough water area near home for one, though. While it is significantly smaller than our schooner it moves much faster. I'll have to go back for another test-drive and focus on it's maneuverability in tight places. There's always something new and cool to do around here.