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2045, Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Things are looking good. Today is the first day of summer, the summer solstice. Believe it or not, there was even a touch of summer in the air! The day started at around 37 degrees and a frigid wind chill when we got to the boat yard a little before 0800. However, by late morning I was peeling off my long thermal underwear! The sun came out for the very first time since we arrived. The wind died and the temperature soared up to a balmy 59 degrees. A welcome change!
The best news of the day, if you hadn't guessed, is that by late morning, Tazzarin was in the water! The engine purred to life. Nothing was leaking. That all makes this captain very happy! It took about an hour to get the slings of the travel lift under the boat and then drive it slowly down to the waterfront. Dave, of the Yacht Club staff, did a great job handling the travel lift. I breathed a sigh of relief when the bottom of the keel kissed the smooth surface of the sea and Tazzarin then settled nicely on her lines.
The second order of business was to move the mast from the crowded storage racks down to the waterfront. Bob and I spent the rest of the day working on the mast: mounting spreaders, cleaning the mainsail track, mounting the radar dome, attaching stays to the end of the double spreaders and such. The mast is pretty much ready to go back on the boat - That is tomorrow's project. Frankly, stepping the mast is perhaps the trickiest piece of work we face. So, let's all hope it goes smoothly.
I am feeling like my voyage north may really happen! With the summer solstice, the sun is now at its highest point in the sky for the year in the northern hemisphere. Tomorrow the days will change. Soon the days will start getting shorter. However, once I head north late next week, I will be moving north faster than the sun moves south in the sky. My days should keep getting longer until the end of July.
Photos below. of the launch and of the mast laying at the waterfront. Oh, if you use the "Find Tazzarin" link at the bottom of these emails, you can usually see, in real time, where the boat is. For now, you will see she moved from the upper storage yard to a temporary berth, in the water.
Bill
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