Day 1 Eve – (Monday, 6/23/2014)

We have been waiting to be splashed since Saturday.  We finished the bottom painting on Friday and are in Brian’s queue to be launched. This is the mysterious timeframe that he uses to prioritize his work. He says today is the day.

A lot has happened over the last 3 months since retirement that has put us behind our non-existent “schedule”. The largest task that was unanticipated was to completely scrape the bottom since the paint was basically falling off.  All my research pointed to too many coats of old paint was causing this. During this process, we had a number of personal issues that kept us from staying on task. The death of my brother came months before it was anticipated (he was terminal with cancer) and the birth of Debbie’s latest grandson came 6 weeks early (3 weeks before the scheduled c-section).  Mother, Father, and Micah (born 6/3 @ 5 lbs & 18.5”) are all doing just fine.

In addition, a few boat issues needed to be tended to. A broken fitting on the primary diesel fuel tank and a leaky water heater had to be replaced.

Numerous other projects had to be finished. We had installed a 160 amp alternator and serpentine pulley kit over the winter and the smart regulator had to be installed and wired in. The aft head was to be converted into a pantry so it was completely disassembled. The holding tank was removed and an aluminum fuel storage tank was fabricated to take its place. We also decided to replace the forward holding tank and all waste hoses which proved to be a slightly larger task than anticipated.

As darkness approaches, the travel lift finally lifts Resolve off its stands. We are going to get wet. The Yanmar fired right up and David Dobbins (Scarlett) helped tie us up into a slip. We had only the next day to get ready for our passage to Stamford, CT. CCYC Commodore of Vice, Dave, and Lois Zonderman (Walkabout) were arriving first thing Wednesday morning to join us for our trip north.