In as many areas as possible, we would like Mahalo to be creative and unique (not to mention fun). When we saw the awesome work Seattle based Reid Signs (www.reidsigns.com) had done with other Hamptons transom lettering we were stoked!

We looked at a lot of fonts and couldn't agree on a single font. So we showed Chris of Reid Signs what we liked about several, and he hand built the letters for us. 

Along the same time as we were doing the design, 3M came out with some new media. It's like that mega expensive car paint that changes color depending on the sun angle and your POV. 

Looks pretty awesome, right? BWTM (But Wait There's More). This blue is the base layer.

The blue layer becomes the outline of each letter, as the green layer is applied. So green is the main color. It would also look good the other way, with blue in the middle and a green outline. But I let Deb win this one.

The interaction between this media and digital cameras is interesting. When Chris previously brought some samples to the boat, I tried photographing them with my phone and it just couldn't render what we were seeing with our eyes. Here I'm using my real camera, which does a better job. Looking good, right? BWTM.
​

Drop shadows!

HYG Seattle has a slew of great service providers. We are really pleased with Reid Signs and I personally want to thank Chris for his awesome work. (BWTM but that is for another blog post!)

I have posted previously one shot from the Axis camera system on board. Yesterday I got to use them while driving the boat for my first time! We had a pretty extensive sea trial to accomplish. 

I found it quite useful to have a nice large display of what is behind us, while running. Here I'm driving through the Montlake cut.  Very cool!

That's Steve D'Antonio (www.stevedmarineconsulting.com).  He is conducting one of his reviews on our boat. I'll have more about that in upcoming posts. 

The two ER cameras were really helpful doing our various tests. Steve would tell me certain things to do with the boat, and observe in the ER. We had a little signal system. Worked great and saved a lot of time. 

Both side decks are monitored as well. Using the Axis software on the PC, these cameras can record basically anything. And you can even set up zones, for example outline the side deck area, and it will record if there is movement there, but not people walking by on the dock.

Ladies and gentleman, yours truly docked Mahalo for the very first time! 

(Well, with some expert help from Robert Fiala of HYG.)  As I slowly thrustered onto the dock, the port side deck camera was amazingly helpful. We could really see exactly where I needed to be. Most of the time on Hamptons you would do this from the cockpit driving station. But when you are back that far you lose sense of where the bow is. 

Perhaps with the camera we can do more docking from the pilothouse. 

Although I didn't show it, you can display any of the cameras together on the screen in basically infinite ways.

It was a great first day!

Our helm chairs are installed. They have been here for a while, but not installed to make it easier for the techs to get under the helm. They look and feel great. Well, except for the head rests. Those will have to be remade. These are Pompanette chairs.

I haven't been to the boat for a week and a half. Wasn't really that interested in going when the boat was hauled out at the yard. But lots of progress while I was away. 

Going back today for three full days. We are getting close to the boat being turned over to us. 

While I was at Trawlerfest this year, I dropped into the diesel maintenance session a couple of times while our sessions were on break. During one they were showing a multi-meter with an integrated clamp and saying that was the way to go. Dang, those things are expensive! Was mentioning this to one of the Yacht Systems guys and he said "oh, just get a separate one for that." Also, he highly recommended Fluke.

So the Fluke integrated unit is $400+ while this kit was like $267 on Amazon. Score! 

​Should be lots of material for upcoming blog posts over the next couple of days.

With Mahalo being a second home, it's amazing how much stuff one requires. Never really thought I'd be buying things like a stapler, bbq brush, some exercise equipment, on and on. 

But we made the trip! Two shopping carts full. I found it kinda ironic we are outfitting our yacht.... at WALMART!