Launch Day for Kantiya

Well, our original plan was to only be in the boat yard for 7-10 days at most, but one project leads to another and another.  Something so simple, such a quick fix, would turn in to "Don't go making a project out of it, Margo." (Something Len's father frequently said to his mother). It would cause us to smile or laugh, amidst the searing heat, humidity, sweat, grease and grime.  We lived like that, fixing one project after another, climbing a ladder to get in the boat which was on jack stands for far too long. With just one day shy of three weeks in the yard, LAUNCH DAY finally arrived! We had just a few projects left on Sunday, July 30th.

First, I had to go aloft- which means up the mast.
This was my view about 63' in the air. To the
left of the photo you can see a black receptacle.
The old broken Windex atop the mast had to
come off, and I installed a new one.  Easy peasy.

The next job was to change the light bulbs in the
masthead light.  You must turn on this light at
dusk, and it remains on all night while you
are at anchor.  We don't want anyone to smack
into us- especially a big freighter!  I feel fine
that high in the air- until I look down on deck.
Look how wee little Len is! YIKES!!

The last project before 'go time' was to install
a new head in our aft cabin suite. The old head
was electric flush, and the motor invariably freezes
up and gives you problems. I bought a new Jabsco
manual pump head, and Len installed it for me.
He's so handy!

When he turned the head over, we joked that
it was probably Made in China. Well, I'll be!!!
We were both shocked to see that it was
MADE IN THAILAND?!
It felt like confirmation from the universe
that Kantiya is definitely the correct name 😎

By mid morning on Monday, 7/31/17, the travel lift
appeared, ready to put Kantiya in the water- hooray!

The travel lift blows big black smoke like no
other as the straps were placed under Kantiya.
She weighs a mere 20,000 pounds!

And we have lift off!

It's a bit unnerving seeing your boat hanging
in a sling as it is driven through the boatyard.
I PRAYED the straps would not slip or snap!

I trusted she was in good hands with Brian at the wheel.

And she was properly christened with her new name 😃⛵

It took some serious doing and trouble shooting on Len's part to get Lucille fired up.  Danny from the boat yard even came to offer some suggestions.  Len had nearly all the parts off of her in the last few weeks, so there was lots of air in the lines.  A diesel won't fire with air in the fuel lines or injectors, so he must have made the rounds a half a dozen times bleeding the engine.  Sometimes he would get air, sometimes only fuel- which seemed to indicate all was fine.  All was not fine.  ANOTHER go around bleeding the engine, a silent prayer on my part, a few frustrating bad words on Len's part, and after the 147th time- SHE STARTED!!!!   We let her run for about 15 minutes and she purred like a kitten. Hooray!  Len was so happy- it was his first marine diesel engine to ever work on. All seemed well in the world of Kantiya.  (Meanwhile, while Len had been furiously working on the engine, all the boat yard guys took an extended lunch break!).

We shut off the engine, and called for Brian to come back to release us into the water. When he hopped back in to his seat, Lucille would NOT start.  Again. and Again. and Again. Len tried bleeding the engine again. That wasn't the problem.  It was a WTF moment, for sure.  Crane operator leaves again- I guess we weren't ready after all.

Len comes up from the hot engine, soaked in sweat, looking for a cold drink.  As he's catching his breath, and quenching his thirst, he explains why he is so perplexed.  Then a light bulb goes on...and he remarks, "It's like the kill switch is on."  He asks, "Is the kill switch on, Karyn?" To which I reply, "No, Len, it's pushed in, not out." He goes down to the engine one. more. time. and asks me to pull and push the kill switch. THAT'S IT!!!!  Though the kill switch was pushed in (disengaged) at the helm, it was getting hung up on the manifold of the engine in the engaged position- meaning fuel wasn't getting to the engine.  He made an adjustment so the lever wouldn't rub or catch, and she fired right up!  The boys came back again, released us, and we were on our way!

We decided to take a little spin following our chart plotter so we could clearly see the channel markers to safely exit to the deeper water.  We took turns at the helm to just get a feel for her, then we had some final tasks to complete before we planned to head out the next morning.

First on the 'to do' list:  THE SHITTER'S FULL!

This boat was put up on the hard over two years ago with a full shitter, and the boatyard/marina did not have a pump out.  While we were out in the bay, we sailed to another marina for a $5.00 pump out.  It was a little perplexing, being our first time docking and operating the shitter pump, but we persevered and got 'er done! It was not the prettiest exit from the pump out station, and it was an even uglier docking experience coming back in to the slip at Old Bay. I was at the helm, and this is a much bigger and different boat than driving Marquesa.  Kantiya is a center cockpit, which means I have a large deck behind me (that's our cabin down below) and we have a set of dinghy davits with the dinghy hanging off the back- I never had one of those before either. There was a lot going on back there while I was looking forward aiming for the slip!  I had Len hot-footing all over the stern of the boat, fending off with a boat hook.  The reality was I came in too close to the right, not leaving room behind me to swing around to port to our assigned slip.  Big Oops.  It sounded ugly, but there was no harm, no foul, and no screaming and cursing. We coasted in to a steady stop- (I didn't crash land on the dock) tied her down, and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief.  I am HAPPY to say it was NOT Divorce Docking 101.

Clearly there is room for much improvement, lol.

We spent the remainder of the evening doing laundry, getting groceries, buying fuel, filling the water tanks, making final preparations and provisions, looking at the charts, and making a sail plan.  We hoped for an early start the next day, but we didn't get to bed until 2:00am.  After three weeks of work, work, work....we are THIS CLOSE to leaving the dock to start heading south.  We can't wait!

G'nite, y'all!