ah, finally a blog update!

Everyone's been asking, when are you gonna update the blog? We think about it daily but things have been a bit hectic the last month, since officially starting work Sept 1. So many things to share, so much going on, so little time to sit down and knock out a simple blog post!

But finally... It's Saturday morning, I'm sitting in our apartment on this cool autumn morning with a lovely cappuccino listening to the swarm of teenagers outside leisurely strolling to school for the 8AM bell. Yes, kids go to school on Saturday here! Well, just until 1pm. The typical Italian school day is six days a week 8am-1pm-ish.

Well, the yacht is nearing completion. Marble being laid, carpets going in, the final touches and detailing are happening in every nook and cranny. We had our second sea trial this past week. Everything is working, and extremely smoothly at that. (Always a good thing on a new boat, any boat.) She really handles great. We love sea trial days because we get to leave the harbor and cruise up the Ligurian coast, with 15-20 Benetti guys aboard who do all the work, and get awesome views of the marble mountains and Cinque Terra. The water here is an incredible shade of turquoise, not unlike the Bahamas. This is not true at the beach or in the yacht basin, the water is brown. They say it's because of the marble-mining run off. So it's such a treat to get out on the water.

The new boat is scheduled for final delivery to the owners at the end of October. A mere four weeks away. In the next month, we have to get the boat ready for the owners who arrive October 28, and who will be aboard for three weeks. We will sail the Mediterranean for those three weeks, further testing all the yacht's systems and general life-aboard. Getting the boat ready means getting it outfitted and provisioned up, not to mention learning the boat inside and out and all its intricate systems that keep it running smoothly. We also have to move out of our apartment, which at the moment is a bit like a storage unit for all the stuff that we've already bought to put on the boat! Plates, glasses, wine, linens, towels, wine, pots and pans, tools, wine, standup paddle boards, bikes, wine.

Dolphins bring out the same excitement no matter where in the World you are!
The sea trial is also a treat for the workers who spend most of their days
buried in the deep bowels of building this mega yacht.

A panoramic view of the upper deck and the Viareggio coast.

Jen's new "office" window.  The state-of-the-art galley (aka kitchen) has a beautiful porthole above the sink, with a new view everyday.

Below, dropping anchor in the middle of the sea as we test the ship's dual anchoring system. As bosun, this is Matt's new office view!