Getting Her Bottom Wet

Yes the time finally came for the long awaited splash of s/v əkwâr`ēəs.  We drove out Thursday evening and spent the night on the boat at the club.  We had power to run a little space heater but it dipped to 31 degrees and we were all a little chilled.  We made it over to the launching lift by 8:30 the next morning with a couple of new friends along from the club.  I was busy getting bottom paint on the spots I couldn't get to, applying the final vinyl on the stern and with the help from my club sponsor and all around good guy, we straightened out all of the stays and halyards, installed the spreaders and got ready for the launch.

We were in the sling probably 2 hours with all this work going but there was nobody waiting.  The yard lowered her into the water and I quickly checked all the through hulls for leaks.  The stuffing box I just packed was leaking at a good rate but that could be expected as I couldn't adjust until it got wet.  We lifted the mast and attached all of the stays. I adjusted the stuffing box to a minor drip and got ready to fire the trusty Yanmar.

The motor started on the third attempt after sitting 2 months.  it was running fine but not spitting out enough cooling water to make myself and all the other club members in attendance, comfortable enough.  I quickly switched out the water pump impeller and got better flow.  Enough to make me feel comfortable.  I never did get a engine temp reading but the color of the smoke and the amount of water told me I was in good shape.

We motored out of the launching marina and out Duck creek about 11:30.  The girls drove the truck and trailer over to the club marina to welcome us in about an hour. The creek in notorious shallow. They claimed to have dredged to 7'-0" recently and we didn't hit bottom but did go over 2 distinct "bumps".  The suspicion  is sunken logs.  We made it out into the main channel and had a good motor down stream in the Nuese with a good 10 kts tailwind.  When we turned up into Broad creek and got closer to the club entrance I played with reversing the boat to see how effectively she back up.  After 10 years of not being in the water, she had no plans on going backwards, only forward.

So we entered the slip bow first.  We had family and friends to take our initial lines and get us tied off until we had a chance to get better dock lines and spring lines in place.  Home at last, we took a much needed break for lunch.  We spent the rest of the afternoon getting some dock lines in place and getting ready for the denaming/naming ceremony. We invited some new friends over to bear official witness.  We asked Neptune to accept our boat and her new/old name with the appropriate amount of reverence and champagne.  More champagne for the gods of the winds, North , South, East and West.

We had our new boat, in a new place with new friends and new adventures to follow.  Stay Tuned.

The Final Stage

This week begins the final stage of the restoration and launching of  əkwâr`ēəs.  We will take the boat the rest of the way to the coast and launch at 8:00am Friday morning.  If the weather holds, we should be floating and prepping for the motor over to the slip by noon.  We plan on spending the next 5 days on the boat doing all the little tasks that need doing.  Wiring the mast lights, VHF antennae, running rigging, tuning the standing rigging, bending on sails, etc.  And hopefully after that a sail or two to get comfortable.  Pictures and a follow up next week if all goes well.