Dock trials are always a testing period for the build boat crew and designers. There will be a list of things that take time to sort out, a few items that don’t work as advertised…

…and plenty of time pressure: the owner wants his/her new boat.

With FPB 78-1 Cochise it is no different. There are the major concerns like displacement and stability. Cochise is on her predicted floatation plane with stability also within the predicted range.

Her plumbing is fully operational – heads, air con, diesel heater, domestic water and bilge pumps are functioning. Crash pump testing remains. We now need a rough water sea trial to test the raw water flow.

Rigging for the masts and dinghy handling has gone smoothly. The aft deck geometry and dink storage is functional. Davits have been mocked up for rigging and will be ready to deploy within a day or so. There is a small glitch with the Lewmar reel winch, it needs reorientation, and this will happen tomorrow.

The ground tackle system is good, booms and their control lines are working, solar panels are doing their thing as well: 46 amps at 24 volts on this partially cloudy day with the sun low and four of our ten panels shaded.

The massive Electrodyne dual alternators are outputting 278 amps each – the clamp meter in the photo reads one half of the output on an engine – and this at slow cruise rpm.

The only system giving us trouble is the NAIAD stabilizers.

Considering we have only been afloat since Wednesday, things are coming together quickly.