Launched

The past few months have been so intense. We were hoping for a June 1 launch. June came and went! We had day after day of getting up at 4:30 or 5:00 am, and working non-stop until 9:30 or 10:00 pm. The work did seem endless, but we just kept at it, and slowly, things got done.

By July 1, we re-set the launch date to August 1, and started to make compromises about what would and would not be finished in time for launching. We knew we’d need some time in the water to just sit, and August in Maine is beginning to look like fall, and cold weather is approaching rapidly, so we definitely felt the pressure.

The challenge was to get all the hull finished, and then also find some time to address some of the systems. The weather cooperated, so that we could almost paint sequentially, when coats were dry. The longest process was cementing the seams on the topsides and below the waterline – days, and days of seam compound.

Dayton Marine, the famous ‘Bucky’, came and picked up the boat, and it is definitely stressful to see the boat on a trailer. She’s much too big to be on the road. We drove through Freeport’s downtown, and the boat filled the entire street. But only in Maine can you drive a boat that size through town, and not have anyone take any particular notice.

We launched at the Yarmouth Town Landing, pushing low tide, did have a moment where she was stuck in the mud, but Bucky gave the truck a push, and was able to nudge her off. A boat and crew from Yankee Marina came and towed her across to their marina, and the process of getting her up and running began in earnest. We really didn’t know how the hull would do, and had a massive pump on hand, in the eventuality of lots of water. Amazingly, though, she just ran off her own bilge pumps. We spent the first night aboard, and it rained, so we found a few more leaks in the deck, so we covered our sleeping bags with our foul weather gear, and all was well. Since then, we’ve found (and sealed) all but a few deck leaks. Water is just amazing – it finds a way through the smallest cracks!

So we moved aboard August 10th, and now are in the process of getting all systems up and running. I do love living aboard. The boat is very comfy & cozy, but it is definitely another push to get everything running again. We still have a short somewhere in the engine starting circuit, and I don’t have a good sense of how much power or water we consume, and at what rate. The composting head is working very well, though. No odor at all, which is a godsend, compared to the former head (which smelled all the time). It’s great to be back in Marion, and we’ve met our food minimum with ease at the club. Nice to have launch service, and to see everyone again. Henry, Leita, and Scott (from the yard) brought the boat straight down overnight from Yarmouth to Marion, and got there around the same time I did (driving the car, after closing up the rental house)!