Splish Splash…….OOPS!!

The Admiral cleaning the transom, amid the 26" props,
the old paint, and the fiberglass blister repairs.

So today, April 29, we’re finally ready to splash the boat.  All the items on the checklists have been checked (and some of them double-checked), the boatyard has finally completed their work (even though it’s about 7 days later than originally planned), the invoices have been paid (without having to sell my first-born child), the boat is in the slings of the TraveLift, and we set her gently down into the water.

The first coat of new paint, a white to contrast with
the blue topcoat, so we can determine the amount
of wear on the ablative paint.

It is normal procedure that the owner and the workers go aboard immediately to check for leaks, and it was a good thing they did!  We found a through-hull leaking a steady stream of water, in an area where no work was performed.  So, here I am, finally getting the boat back into the water, eagerly awaiting the start of our cruising season, and here’s an unexpected problem that will delay us another day.  What to do?  Do I haul the boat back out of the water (since the boat is still in the slings), or do I ignore the leak, start on a 7 month cruise and hope for the best?  This is an IQ test, children.

We raise her back on the “hard” & begin to repair the through-hull, and plan again for a launch tomorrow.

She's all prettied up with new paint & new anodes & ready to go to town!

Hanging in the slings, ready to get her bottom wet

A fish-eye view looking up the anchor chain

 

View from our apartment, with the double rainbow
after the thunderstorms

We have an excellent weather window coming in 3-4 days that we’d love to take advantage of to begin our cruise, but we’re not sure we can recover from the boatyard activities, move from the apartment back onto the boat, clean the entire boat, provision supplies, and be ready to set sail.  We’re looking at how we can make up for “lost time” based on our original trip plan.  We think we can cruise the 250 miles to Coinjock NC (as the T-shirt says, “Where the hell is Coinjock?”) in just 3 days by cruising 10 hours each day.  We’re also looking at cancelling some planned stops in Chesapeake Bay, but the Admiral is demanding her fill of blue crabs before leaving the Bay.  So, I guess it’s just like anything related to boating; all plans are written in the sand at low tide!

But one thing is for sure.  In less than 7 days, we’ll be underway!

Almost Gonna Start to get Closer to Starting

We’re slowly, but surely, getting closer to cruising!

We’ve been traveling for the past 2-1/2 weeks, away from the boatyard, but we’re headed back tomorrow.  And the best news is that the boat may be ready to splash next Tuesday.

We’ve basically been living out of our car for the past 2-1/2 weeks.  It was packed tightly with our winter coats & clothes & heaters, which we left in Birmingham AL a couple days ago at our storage locker, in exchange for our summer clothes.

We left Southport over 2 weeks ago to first spend a week at a resort in Florida for a lot of R & R.  It was a very relaxing week, and I only got wrapped up in boatyard issues for one day.  Sue thought I had forgotten how to relax and do nothing, but I quickly showed her that old dogs can learn new tricks!

Then we drove our poor little car (now pushing 220,000 miles) to New Orleans, where I had some more MOHS microsurgery to remove 2 spots on my head.  They were not stitched closed, so I now literally have 2 holes in my head, covered tightly in bandages so my brains won’t fall out.  In New Orleans, we also spent time with our son & his family, and our wonderful ideal perfect can-do-no-wrong granddaughter.  Their new house is looking really nice, and may be ready for its new occupants in June.

After stopping in Birmingham to trade clothes, we continued north to Lynchburg TN (a.k.a. “Mecca” for all you Jack Daniels folks) to visit our boating friends Leigh & Clint.  We traded sea stories (most of which were true), and made plans to get together with our boats around October when we’ll be heading south down the inland rivers from Chicago.

The next stop was Chattanooga TN to visit Sue’s mother, who is still holding her own.  We again were invited to stay at Susan & John’s home, even though they were not at home.  Instead, they were traveling in Europe on a long, well-earned vacation.  But John still left me a list of chores to do around the house!

When we get back to North Carolina, it will be Sue’s turn to see the dermatologist in Wilmington for removal of 2 spots of potential skin cancer.  So, as we start cruising, we both will have to change bandages or remove stitches on the other.

It’s been a significant effort to plan our upcoming trip around the eastern half of the US, especially through Canada with their charts, rock-strewn waterways, dollar exchange rates, and Canadian/US Customs.  I can’t imagine how some of these “Loopers” travel the entire loop in less than a year.  I don’t think that I could learn so quickly all the information about charts, navigation, marinas to stay, anchorages to visit, lock operations, water levels, weather patterns, customs requirements, etc, etc  to the point where I’m comfortable heading out each morning.  But by now, we know the boat’s capabilities and our own, and we’re ready to start heading north.

10 Days on the hard so far

10 days since we hauled out the boat, and the yard is pretty slow to get going.  Sue & I have gone from our apartment to the boat nearly every day to work on our list of chores.  Kinda like having a J-O-B all over again! 

We've accomplished nearly all of our chores, while the yard has only spent 1-1/2 days doing their list of tasks.  I reiterated to the manager that we wanted to "splash" the boat about April 23 (only 3 weeks away), so we'll see if they can prioritize any better.

In the meantime, we've decided to drive to Florida for a week to visit friends and for some R & R.  Then we make the "pilgrimage" back to New Orleans for more of my skin cancer surgery; and then to Birmingham AL to our storage locker to trade winter clothes for summer clothes; and then to Chattanooga to spend a couple days with Sue's mother (who is a feisty 92 years young); and then finally back to Southport NC.

We're planning about 7 days to clean the boat from the yard period, move back aboard, and finally provision the boat for our cruising.  Planning to make the Great Lakes this summer, coming back south via Chicago and the river system.  If we make it, we'll complete the "Great Loop" when we get back to the Tennessee River & meet up with our old cruising buddies from several years ago.