Launch Day

17 May 2016

Sunrise 0521; Sunset 1958

Temp 64 (F); Water Temp 50 (F)

Winds WSW 14kts, gusting 24kts

Waves SW 3-4 ft, 6 seconds

4-5 Bft Moderate -- Fresh Breeze

Visibility 10km

Partly Cloudy; Cloud Cover 66%

Humidity 45%

Pressure 1021mb

LW 1125 (0.5 ft)

HW 1808 (4.1 ft)

Depart: 1545

Arrive: 1750

Trip: 9.0nm, 2hr 5min, 3.5 knots ave speed, 7.9 max speed

Finally, at long last, my "splash date" for the 2016 season arrived.  The Brownell guys showed up at 1:00pm, on-time as always, and generously complimented me on how good the boat looked.  They lifted Piao onto the hauler, put the dinghy there too, and prepared to head over to the town ramp in Marion's Sippican harbor.   I jumped in my car and drove over there just ahead of them.

Piao arrives at the town boat ramp, with her dinghy....

Ed Van Kurtin was there to help me with the rigging and tuning.  He noted a few issues of concern as we worked.  First, there is some spider-cracking on the deck around the mast step, probably compression fractures.  He advised me that it was safe to sail ("I see a lot of boats with cracking much worse than this," he assured me), but suggested that we fix it during the next off-season.  That might cost a bit, depending on what we find in terms of water penetration.  Shhhhhh, don't tell the wife.

Those troubling cracks on the cabin top.  Worried that water may be penetrating the core....

In addition, Ed noted that the shrouds were worn and the turnbuckles were maxed out.  Again, he assured me that it was safe to sail, but urged me to replace the shrouds next year.  "They are thirty-five years old," he smiled.  "And we can probably replace them for only about $500."  

This is *so* true....

By 1330 the boat was in the water.  Working against some wind and tidal current, I guided her over to the town courtesy dock so that we could work on getting the rigging set properly.  Although Piao is a small boat, it still took me and Ed more than two hours to get the rigging squared away and to finish all the fine-tuning adjustments.  I honestly don't remember why it took so long.  There was no time to bend the sails.  As it was, I long overstayed the fifteen-minute time limit on tie-ups to the town courtesy dock.  Good thing no one else was launching that day.  Pays to be early in the season....

Rigged and ready.  Now, to find some way to cast off those dock lines and climb back aboard before the boat drifts away in the wind....

I was a little nervous about handling the boat alone on the first day of the season.  But no one was available to assist me with the launch.  So my plan was simply to motor over to my mooring, about 9nm east, on the Weweantic River.  Just get her there and call it a day, I told myself.  Deal with the sails another day.  Even inside the sheltered harbor, it was blowing 9-11 knots, and gusting 20 knots.  I fired up the engine (yay!) and cast off at 1545.

Getting underway, gingerly.  Some of the sailboats in this harbor cost much more than my total net worth....

By 1615 I had cleared Seal Rock near the mouth of the harbor, where the winds were up to a steady 19 knots.  It was then I noticed that I had not pulled in and secured my docking fenders.  Well, that was embarrassing.  I could hear the voice of my friend, Bob, chiding me: not very yachtsmanly.  More importantly, I now had to find the cojones to leave the tiller and climb out of the cockpit to retrieve those fenders as the boat pitched in 3-4 foot seas.

Leaving Sippican Harbor.  At the height of summer, the harbor is a dense forest of masts.....

I held a pretty steady course of 180(M) until I was well clear of Centerboard Shoal.  Out there, in the Bay, the winds were blowing 22-24 knots, with gusts of 28 knots.  I put away my handheld anemometer to concentrate on handling the boat.  The waves here were four to five feet, out of the SW.  It all made for a rather gnarly ride.  I took a lot of water over the bow and foredeck, and a couple of hard splashes right in the face.

"Splash Day" living up to its name.....

At 1540, I made my turn and began my easting towards Great Hill, passing between Bird Island and the G"3" Bell that marks Bird Island Reef.  I now had to deal with following seas that were racing by, overtaking the boat and pushing its quarter from side to side in a yawing motion.  The dinghy, which I was towing behind me, would often turn sideways as the crest of a big wave passed beneath it, and then surf down the face of the wave to ram the stern of the boat.  I had little choice but to throttle up.

South of Bird Island, a six-footer pushes the dinghy down towards Piao's transom  

Just trying to keep that painter away from the prop....

At 1715, I made my turn at Great Hill, and headed north toward the mouth of the Weweantic, relieved to have a respite from the white capped chop out in Buzzards Bay.  By 1750, I was securely on the mooring, and soon thereafter headed ashore.  "Dark and Stormy" was in the forecast.

Honey, I'm home!

At 6:30pm, some five hours after launch, my wife took me back to the town ramp so I could retrieve my car.  When we got there, I was shocked to discover that I had inadvertently left the car trunk ajar!  It was sitting there open and unattended all afternoon, yet nothing was missing.  Good thing we live in a town like Marion.  Ever read Nothing Ever Happens on My Block?

My favorite childhood book.....