There comes a time when it hits you, when the pieces fall together, when it feels right, and you know it has all been worth it.

We’ve been excited about the FPB 78 for a long time, but today, in that first hour aboard, after three airplane flights, it was different. With the windows being prepped for glueing, Matrix deck roof in place, and furniture installed throughout,  the spaces – inside and out – are defined. They feel comfortable. Not cramped, not too big, just right.

Neither words nor photos can convey this sense of being (of which this is a poor attempt at describing). Perhaps when Cochise is afloat, we can do better with photos. In the meantime, as you can see above, the windows are being prepped for glueing tomorrow. The clamps are bolted to blind threaded inserts, whose main job is to provide a means of holding storm windows in place.

Circa Managing Director Bruce Farrand is admiring the very light, simple, and functional remote/portable helm for docking.

There are two of these: one on the lower deck and another for docking on the Matrix deck.

Time for a shower…more tomorrow.