REPORT #41

REPORT #41

6th  February 2024

_________________________________________________________________________

PANIC STATIONS….

THE JUDGES ARE COMING TO INSPECT
OUR WORKMANSHIP.

****

WE HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED OUR TRUE

CHALLENGE WAS TO PRODUCE A QUALITY OF

WORKMANSHIP, IN THAILAND, THAT WOULD

BE JUDGED FAVOURABLY BY OUR PEERS IN

EUROPE.

 

*****

TWO DAYS BEFORE JUDGES ARRIVE

40 people working their hearts out.

Bodies everywhere, installing deckheads.

Main entrance blocked.

Guest cabin torn apart.

Last minute adjustments in the engine room.

Polishing and more polishing

Rush to get the leather sofas fitted.

20.30 hours, the night before judges arrive, we laid down our tools and went home. Tomorrow would be our day of reckoning.

LIKE MAGIC WE CREATED ORDER FROM CHAOS…..

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

The judges arrived in a 50-year-old, 50-knot, restored Cigarette speedboat, fitted with engines developing 1,000 HP.

Mike conducting the deck orientation tour.

Ked explaining modern instruments hidden in a fold-up box.

Chief judge photographing interior hull details.

The inspection team casting practiced eyes over our work.

Head shipwright Mike Howett explaining the restoration process that has led us to this point in time.

Head Judge Steve Watson, at debriefing meeting, with project managers Ked Krissadaraksa and Des Kearns.