HELLA LONG DAY

We arrived at the launch ramp at 7:30 yesterday morning knowing it was going to take time to rig and launch a boat that was not familiar. Having been there and done that before, once you get the hang of how to launch and retrieve any boat what initially takes 3-4 hours becomes less than 60 minutes soon after.

It was hot. It was muggy. We both sweat like pigs. Murphy's Law ran amok . . . "If anything can go wrong it will." "Nothing is as easy as it looks."

But we worked in harmony. Were fairly civil to one another. Problem solving between us was the rule of the morning.

Other sailors stopped by to chat. One, a recently retired superior court judge, stopped because he too owned a Catalina 250.. . and noticed from afar that the condition of our boat was so remarkable that he could not resist stopping. We hit it off, exchanged phone numbers and promised each other that we'd share stories and maybe crew for each other sometime in the future.

A couple of kayak dudes stopped and admired the boat and muttered on leaving, "We gotta get one those." At this point in the day I would have gladly swapped our boat for both of theirs - -- straight across. Truly, the hassle factor connected with what we had was over the top in comparison to what they paddled off in. These guys had no clue what's involved in the care and feeding of a boat this size. Then I remembered that size does matter and put aside any notions of any on the spot trade.

After rigging the boat for launching we connected the tongue extension on the trailer. It's a 10' piece of channel steel with a hitch on the end which lengthens the distance between the vehicle and the trailer. Why is that needed? Because ya gotta go deep to float a boat like this. Way deep. As it was the back wheels of the truck were under water when the boat had enough water under her to float.

Wifey held onto the dock lines while I pulled the trailer out of the water and parked it.

You'll notice there are nary a sail on our girl. Well, the dogs had been locked up at home since 7:30 and needed to be let out. It was fast becoming time to pick up Grace at the bus stop. Those things considered and in the interest of Gracie and the dogs we put off rigging the sails in favor of doing that another day.


So off I motored, shit eating grin in place, to our berth located across the lake. It was still hard to believe that the nearly five year quest to buy the just right Catalina 250 had come to fruition. It was a happy day for both of us.














The last photo shows the boat making the turn into the marina as taken by Wifey from our slip. After securing her to the dock Wifey left to care for the dogs and to pick up Grace.

After Wifey left I hit the local convenience store for a large beer and a sandwich. .. and enjoyed them both while sitting on the boat moored in the berth on the lake. One more dream come true.

Did I mention that it doesn't get any better than this?