Finally in the water

Sunday we spent the afternoon waxing and buffing the hull. By the end of the buffing I was having to do it by hand as the buffing pad was caked with wax.

That's my reflection in the hull!
Sore shoulders the next day.

The finished product.







By that evening it was obvious that we could not launch Monday with the forecast for rain from about midnight until early Tuesday morning. We did a few things on the boat in the morning and then went to the movies in the afternoon. Tuesday morning it was still drizzling but we planned to launch around 11 am. We were ready!

The lift arrives

After a prayer, they set her in the water
and we checked for anything leaking. All went well and the engine started immediately!





Ann drove the car around to the marina and got a ride back from one of the guys in the yard while I kept checking for anything leaking and warmed up the engine. I also decided while I was tied up I would check the new thruster. Guess what? It didn't work, not just once but several tries! When Ann got back we headed across the way to our marina. We normally have the end of G dock, they call it a T head because that's what it looks like. Only now they have a new resident - a 22' wide catamaran and no place to put him except our T head. So we are in the shed. A covered dock. It's nice except the TV dish can't get the satellite through the metal roof. Next week they will remove some pilings and make 1 slip from 2 for the catamaran and we can move.

 Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday we spent getting everything else unpacked and put away. We also added a few personal items of decor. By the way, after we got tied up in the "shed" I tried the thruster again and it worked. Maybe a case of cold water shock!

Ann's grandkids call her Mimi!

We have been looking for something to put above the stove to break up the blank wall. We found this great glass fish at an arts & crafts fair in Venice Florida this past winter and it has great color and works well.


The rest of this week we will continue "messing around on the boat". Next Monday we drive to Norfolk, Va. for the week to attend the AGLCA ( America's Great Loop Cruisers Ass.) for their spring rendezvous. For those who are not familiar, the Great Loop is intracoastal waterway  along the east coast of the US, the Erie canal up to the great lakes and down the river systems from Chicago to Mobile, Al. and across the gulf to Florida. The only time constraint is out of the north for the winter and out of the south for the summer (hurricane season). Hence we will meet everyone heading north in Norfolk. We  will be leaving Solomons about the time most of them are getting here so we should have some boats to travel with at least part of our journey.

Our next post will probably be late next week after returning from Norfolk.