She's in the water

Well, I was going to title this post "Her bottom is wet," but that might be misunderstood, somehow.

When you haul your boat out and put it on a trailer or cradle or set of jackstands, the boat is said to be "on the hard." It is commonly thought among sailors that life on the hard is, in fact, hard. (There's a song to that effect by a woman known among the boating community. I'm not sure whether there is a comparable phrase for being back in the water, except of course "in the water," which is not quite as colorful or evocative.

So, anyway, I went up to the marina yesterday. I'm still trying to decide whether to get a second house battery and to replace the clock and barometer (I haven't been at all happy with the "Endurance" line of instruments from Weems and Plath. Stopped in to West Marine but decided not to spend the money.

I checked in at the office to be sure they were going to be ready for me and was told I was scheduled for about 3 to 3:30 pm, so I spent some time organizing and clearing and then waited for them to finish with the boats in front of me. I even fell asleep on a bench at one point.

They were pretty late in getting to me--probably 4 pm or son. Then it took quite a while to get me in and, especially, step the mast. Still having some electrical problems with the mast; I will need to replace one of the plugs to see if that gets the lights working right. Now, I may have the right lights for sailing at night but not for motoring, which won't work. Next year, I really should go ahead and replace the spreader lights, which I didn't get around to in time this year.

Now some spring, I really would like to launch on a day with a gentle breeze. This wasn't that spring, though. As with last year, there was a serious wind, with thunderstorms in the offing. This time it was more from the south than last year, so when I motored out into the river and around to my slip, the anxiety levels rose. But it turned out that when I worked out the plan in my head, it was basically accurate. With the wind from the southwest or so, I turned into the slip and slowed way down and let the wind push me more gently toward the dock. It helped that Tim from the marina was there to grab the boat and get a quick bow line tied up.

By this time, it was about 5:30 pm, and the lightning was clearly visible off to the west, so I didn't do much work beyond adjusting the lines, hooking up the electrical system to shore power, and making sure the bilge pump is working correctly.

Have to head back this weekend to continue the needed work. The weather looks mediocre--a lot cooler and perhaps more rain.