>From Mike Maurice, Zhuhai, China. That's pronounced "Zoo Hi". We are about 50 miles across from Hong Kong and just up river from Macau. We can see the towers in Macau and yesterday were up to the gate into it. Mandarin should be in Hong Kong this weekend, god willing and the river don't rise. Bought steaks in Z yesterday, along with some groceries. Bill Kimley's Seahorse's yards are spread out about 10 miles apart. The roads are alive with targets. They run and we seem to get about as close as can be without scratching the paint? I am told the game is called "chicken". It might be called madness, or doom. Have seen the evidence of only ONE accident. Seems unlikely. The others must be hidden by camouflage. Wizard of OZ style. The sampans go by trolling for steel scrape, making a living, or so I am told. We eat in the executive dining room for lunch and dinner. The menu is Chinese. Lunch and Dinner, l and d, l and d...... Had lunch at Kentucky Fried, nice change. The gals that cook, feed the big crew before us execs. It is all very informal. The boat is hell for stout. Had it out for a short sea trial yesterday. The Chinese have an inspection society that certifies the boats. We have a very official looking certificate. The inspector came with us. As usual with such things there are a couple of little details to attend to. There are 5 more 46+2 boats in the shop building. Each a little further along than the others. Bill builds a sturdy boat. After all the wiring and tubing/hose is in place the hull is coated with spray foam. Reminds me of the way US subs are built. There would seem to be little chance for damage to the inside steel, copper tubing or wiring with it all sprayed over with foam. The nav lights are the best arranged and placed of any that I have seen. The cut off from Red to Green is real sharp. The masthead light is not shining on the decks. The radar is a Raymarine C80. The display is visible from a good angle and can be watched while lying on the settee in the pilot house, with your head under the table top. Very goot. We will have storm shutters for all the windows. They will be stored, god knows where. Probably under the mattresses. The rails are high enough that it is going to take some effort to throw anyone overboard. Will have to work on that. There are escape hatches from all cabins and all the portholes have inside metal shutters that should take major impacts without endangering the boat. The pictures on the internet don't have the flopper stopper system showing as it was just put on. Also the SSB radio antenna is not visible as it is going on as I write. The tests yesterday showed 7 knots at about 1700 rpm, for about 2.0 gals per hour. We estimate the range at that speed at from at least 1500 gals at about 4000 miles with reserve. The actual tankage may be as high as 2000 gals. Won't know for sure until filled. We can load almost 500 gals in the stern tank that was originally intended for water. At 4 knots the range appears to be about 10,000 miles. All this will be better known after we make our first major passage. Most likely Subic Bay. Bill Lee of Ocean Quest in San Diego built the watermaker which is reported to put out up to 15 gals per hour. We will carry 300 gals of water in 2 tanks. They are located outboard in the engine room. The access in the engine room is very good. Engine gauges include exhaust temp, transmission pressure as well as the usual.We will have enough sails to make a pretty good go at sailing down wind or on a reach, down current to safety in case of a major engine failure. Lots of spare parts on hand. The interior joinery is really pretty. The wages here at the shop are about 2 1/2 times the local rate and Bill seems to keep his people pretty contented and working like the devil. Maybe there is something I don't know about. I am suspicious that my outgoing email is censored. So if you see any misspellings, that is the reason. We have a 6 man liferaft and a 10' dinghy with 4 horse engine The big boat handles well and has a bow thruster which seems adequate for the task. It will back down at 5 knots, make almost 8.5 knots with a 135 horse engine. Here in the calm river it does not rock much from passing wakes even those that really throw the docks around. It makes tight turns at full throttle and the rudder response is good. Will know more when we get into blue water. We have a Jordan Series drogue aboard. We may have use for it. It that happens you will get a detailed report. There are 2 watertight compartments. One forming the crash bulkhead up forward and housing the anchor chain. Another aft of the engine room and forming the master cabin. Each has a serious watertight door. This boat is going to require some real effort to sink it. The plating looked like 5/16 below the chine, maybe the waterline. We have extra sat phone and radio gear and my spare radar in case the main one fails. Scott Bulger can contact us if you want to send a short question, which may or may not get answered while we are offshore. Regards, Capt. Mike Maurice At Seahorse Marine Zuhai, China.