Two caveats to start this week’s update. 

First a big thanks goes to Yiğit back at Naval Yachts in Antalya for dutifully taking and uploading all the photos below and second my apologies for not being able to get this weekly update posted until now.  Christine and I have been fully immersed in the wonders of being Grandparents for the past two weeks as we gathered our West and East cost children and grandchildren together for the first time in Florida and have been having a fabulous time with all of them and other family here.  As the saying goes if you think our hands are full, you ought to see our hearts and so there simply has not been much time left over each day to get to online.

Thanks for your patience and without any further delay here is the update from the equally busy and talented Team Möbius for the week of April 15 to 19, 2019 back at Naval Yachts in Antalya.

If you’re not familiar with the WIF acronym in the title, it refers to Water In Fuel which is something we go to great lengths to prevent from happening and a whole WIF alarm system to let us know if any water does somehow get into our fuel.

So you would think that we’d be aghast to see all this water blasting into our tanks.  But you’d be wrong as we are delighted!  Why?  Because this means the tanks are all being scrubbed, rinsed and vacuumed in preparation for being all sealed up with their gaskets and cover plates for final testing and ready to start storing their respective loads of our 14,450 L / 3800 USG of  diesel fuel as well as our 7,100L / 1900 USG of water tanks.
With all tanks being integral to the hull such that all our fuel and water is below the waterline, the tanks and their baffles were amongst the very first parts of the boat to be assembled and welded almost a year ago now so they have accumulated a LOT of dirt, dust and debris from all the construction that has gone on since.  The bigger bits were removed with a strong vacuum and then washed down as you see here to get all the finer dust and grit rinsed down to the bottom where it was all pumped out,
Next all the tanks were vacuumed dry and the tops bolted down to seal them shut and all ready for their next pressure test to find any leaks with the newest additions to the tanks. 
Tanks are pressure tested after every change or addition such as these two fuel fittings that have now been connected up passing through this WT Bulkhead.  Once all the plumbing is done we will do a final test with a manometer to ensure there the whole system is completely sealed.
Not a tank per se but a “void” left empty to keep water tanks separated from fuel also need to be sealed shut in preparation for the floor insulation and cabinetry being installed.  This void is at the aft end of the Master Cabin is now being fitted for its top plates and gaskets pressure, then pressure washed clean and dried.

Here it is with the tank tops bolted in place ready to be pressure tested as well. 

The row of round SAE5 flanges you see taped up here and in the photo above, go into the water tanks forward and will soon be fitted with the supply and return lines and tank level gauges.
Finishing up with tanks for today, the baffles have now been tacked in place within the 500L Day Tank as it is readied for installation in the Workshop.
Meanwhile down in the Basement the Tank Selection manifolds are being mocked up with their octopus like set of 14 different hoses and ball valves which allow us to move fuel to and from any of the six fuel tanks, supply and return fuel to the Alfa Laval centrifuge and the fuel transfer pump for filling the Day Tank.
Uğur and Nihat turned their attention to the massive hinges for the Paravane stabiliser A-Frames being cut out of this 50mm/2” thick block of aluminium.
Which is soon shaped and drilled and is ready to be inserted through the Rub Rails.

Paravanes, often referred to as “birds” or “fish” are suspended off the end of these A-Frames and “fly” through the water about 5m/16’ below the surface when we are in seas that want to cause the boat to roll.  You can see three of them in the bottom right corner of this rendering as I am testing out different positions, depths and making sure they can’t hit the hull or reach the prop.

Note that there is only one A-Frame on each side of the boat not two as you see here with the A-Frames shown in both up and down positions.

The shape of the paravanes is similar to an airplane and as the water moves over the wings they maintain downward pressure to counter the forces trying to lift them up as the hull rolls and thus stabilises the hull and makes for a much more comfortable ride.

As you can imagine these forces can be Xtreme in heavy seas and weather so these hinges need to transfer all this force from the A-Frames into the framework of the hull and will be inserted into slots you see being laid out here.
The hinge plates extend down through the top and bottom ….
….. of the 10mm thick Rub Rails.
The center line of the pair of hinge pins must be perfectly aligned and the laser level makes this relatively easy as the hinge blocks are soon tacked in position.
Up at the bow the large hatch lid has been completed and is now being fitted with its hinges.  This hatch provides us ready access to the large 4m/13’ long Forepeak area below where we will stow lines, fenders and lots of other equipment such as Black and Grey Water tanks, the anchor Windlass, Bow Thruster and various pumps so this large space will be well used.
Last but not least of this week’s progress Yiğit gives us a peek at the latest arrival at Naval Yachts.

Can you guess what lies under the tarps?
Aha!  The first batch of our Santos/Rosewood for the interior cabinetry.  These are the solid wood just under Yigit’s fingers and the veneer is stacked above for its ride down from Istanbul.
Earlier in the week at the suppliers warehouse, the Santos/Rosewood veneers had been carefully selected and bundled up for their journey South.  A very exciting milestone as the build transitions from the aluminum exterior work to the interior.  You’ll be seeing much more of this Xtremely beautiful wood in the coming weeks and months as the carpentry crew joins Team Möbius.
And if you think it was a productive week at the shipyard check out the progress back at Dincer’s home with the even more rapid growth of the twins Mert (middle) and Yiğit (bottom) and their big brother Demir.

Well it is now Saturday evening and we have just returned “home” to Antalya and are busy unpacking our four checked bags full of boat parts, electronics and navigation gear for Möbius.  So I can finally get this tardy progress update for last week posted and will follow up shortly with this week’s update so you will be getting two back to back posts along with my thanks for your patience.  See you again shortly.