The Contract is Signed

Last night we telephoned the UK to discuss final contractual arrangements and then signed the contract for the construction of Waiouru.  After starting with a long list of potential builders we settled on Ben & Kelly Harp of Ben Harp Narrowboat Builders.  Ben impressed us with his confidence and approach to meeting our expectations (“I’ll build you what you want!”). We have heard of other situations where the builder builds you what he wants.
The shell is being constructed by Wilson Tyler whom we understand produces a very nice produce and is considered to be one of the best shell builders.  Hopefully this will add to maintaining the value of the boat.
Ben and Kelly have informed us the shell will be finished in mid November.  Meantime Ben and his team have commenced work on the cabinet work which will speed up the process.  They have informed us the completion date will be the end of February, only four months!  This came as a surprise and when asked “How can it be completed so quickly?” we were advised that the detailed specifications we had provided meant there should be no delays whilst waiting for decisions relating to the fit out.
Now that the construction has physically commenced I have created a project diary so I can keep track of progress.
There has been a change to the domestic battery bank.  Originally I had selected Trojan L-16 batteries rated at 495Ah.  They were slightly more than 500 pounds each.  After some further searching on Google I found a supplier who could provide them at just over half that price.  Then I read about Rolls batteries.  They also appear to have a very good reputation and come with a 7 year guarantee.  The battery I’m looking at is also rated L-16 but has a slightly larger capacity of 530Ah.  Whilst the price is slightly more than the Trojan I have concluded the Rolls battery is a better choice.
  
The batteries are from Energistar