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!