WESTSAIL 28 Back in the water after THREE YEARS!

[Lady Orca]

The weekend finally came. The appointed time that all powers would converge to put "Neptune's Toy" in the water for the first time in over three years had arrived. It was early morning when they got started and we had Family and Friends there with us to watch the spectacle and celebrate the "Re Naming" ceremony and festivities. What a great day! Poor Brother Wayne though......he had no idea when he drove over from Tampa with the Captain's Sister, Sharon and Mom Brissont that he was going to do anything but party with the "Pirates".....he got drafted into a 10 hour day of work. To Wayne; Thank you more than you know!

The boat lift slowly moved the beautiful vessel in all her majesty, towering above our heads as she creeped from the boat yard toward the dock to be slowly and carefully lowered into the water like the vessel she was, starved for the ocean. The silhouette of the hull vanished beneath the Realm of Neptune with a slight splash. I could hear her say "THANK YOU!" Each inch that lowered out of site was an inch we knew of that boat. It is a great feature of the Westsail, the full keel hull was clearly half the height of the boat, huge to our eyes, but safe for the Ocean sailing we intended to do. We did not want a fast boat, but a safe one. We got that!

Now the mast is the next job to get done and that is when poor Wayne got drafted! Never enough hands on board, no matter how many are there to get everything done. So, with all hands available, the rigging goes up with the mast and all connections of lines,stays, wiring,lights, bolts and this mast can be stepped so you have to check all that and be sure you get it right.
Up, up, up....the mast was up and I was staring straight into the sun to see the wind vane on top for the first time turning freely with the wind. The Captain was excited to say the least as they put the mainsail on the mast and rigged the lines. The mizzen would wait until later when we are ready to sail. We got our pretty new brown covers on all the winches, rails, and sails and just stood back and looked at her in awe. To us, she was the most beautiful site we had ever seen and the sun was lowering in the sky so time to get her re named. I was very careful to get the right ceremony and we made our offerings, uncovered the new name, and drank ALL the Champange!...but before the drinking started, the Captain had to get her in the home slip, so , starting the motor to back her out and move her; all seemed perfect in paradise!....then, quickly, the motor stopped and under momentum, the Captain is drifting straight toward the house boat directly behind us.. Luckily, The retired Marine Captain came out and helped me. (after running full force down and around 2 docks to reach his boat from the boatyard) We pushed the sailboat back out in safer water and the Captain tried the motor again, NOTHING, so with all his skill Captain John driftted her right into the dock slip. Being the pro he is, he said we would deal with that tomorrow. So the party began right there.......

I'll tell you a SECRET; since it is a fact that in the darkness of our 37 ft Egg Harbor, Captain John turned off the wrong breaker when leaving after a long day of cleaning causing a call a few hours later that the Egg Harbor was on the bottom of the marina floor. She sunk! What happened, everything was fine except we knew we had a breach in the hull and it was taking on water but the bilge pump took care of that........until Captain John turned off the bilge pump breaker instead of the one he intended.....(rut~row!)....Could he also have not opened the fuel valve to the motor on the Westsail before he started toward that home slip? Well, YES! Easy fix, but a bit embarrassing, LOL.....

The saga continues. Next I'll write about getting the riggin right for stepping the mast and the "fun" we had learning to do all those new things! "The Maiden Voyage " to her new Marina home after a night anchoring out and enjoying the sites!....

The pics for all this are on Captain John's site:
http://seaknots.ning.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenName=...

Page 3,4 and 5 of his photos*****************

[LOLA]

Beautiful boat and job. Do you have all your brightwork done? Please post them on BRIGHTWORK group.