Today was SUPER EXCITING!!! The mast has been out of the boat for a while now, but the new stainless cables for the rigging that hold the mast up finally came in and we were ready to put the mast back in.  When we pulled it out we used a truck crane, but this time we chose to have the yard put it in the water with their travel lift and then use the smaller crane on top of the lift to pick up the mast and put it in the boat.  We’re going to be in the water over the weekend so we have time to test the engine thoroughly, check for leaks, and a bunch of other things that we’ll want to do before she goes back in the water for good next fall!

That’s our boat! This is the first time I’ve seen the boat float since I wasn’t here for the sea trial with Jason.  It’s really nice to be able to see it from the side without all the other boats in the way.  We made sure to close all of the thru hull valves before we went in just in case, but we still had a few leaks.  One was from the shaft seal, which was honestly expected.  The other leak was from the strainer that we added for the raw water washdown pump that we rebuilt a few posts ago.  It figures that we went through all that effort and the thing still leaks.  I think it needs a new O-ring.

This was a very exciting couple of hours! Also, it’s suuuuuper hot and humid outside today.  Glad I remembered sunscreen! Either way, I’m so excited to finally have the boat in the water!