Not that this was really in question, mind you, but there’s always that teeny little voice at the back of your head when your boat is in the slings, headed for the water . . .

On the morning of Friday, September 20, Calypso went back in the water.

It’s pretty amazing, really - when we were in Vermont, talking about this step, Jeremy was not sure how long it would take to get Calypso launched. We spent a chunk of time in early summer prepping this boat (as well as Mischief) but the list of projects, as is normal in boat life, is still relatively long. Four weeks maybe?

And then we looked at a calendar and the commitments already on it, the first in Pasadena, Maryland at the Maryland Yacht Club on September 29, followed closely (October 7) by Cruisers’ University in Annapolis. We had to stay in Averill for Bulky Day at the dump (let’s hear it for small town excitement, right?), which put us not leaving until September 2 at the very earliest. We could push yard time to 4 weeks, but then we’d be hard pressed to get to Annapolis by the evening of the 6th of October (it’s about 100 miles to there from Deltaville, so either an overnight or 2 days, IF the weather cooperates). And I’d have to drive north for the earlier engagement. Way more fun to be at anchor.

We arrived back in Deltaville on Friday, September 6, in time to pick up crab cakes at the local seafood market and celebrate being back aboard. Saturday the work began in earnest.

Okay, time to focus that list. What exactly MUST be done before we can go in the water?

• grease thru hulls

• reinstall the propeller

• paint the propeller

• get the wind vane set back up, including a new way to lock it in place

• paint the trim tab (the part of the wind vane that’s in the water)

• redo the anchor locker, addressing waterproofing challenges and painting

• test fire the engine

Boom.

Meanwhile, as you might imagine, there were other items ticked off the ever-expanding-and-shrinking-and-expanding list of boat projects, chief among them provisioning and working on the forward hatch (see previous post for those details!)

By 8 am on Friday morning (are you keeping track? That was just 2 weeks since arrival from Vermont!) we were motoring out of the haulout slip, bound just across Fishing Bay to our friends’ dock. It was a day of hustle, stashing tools and gear. But late Friday afternoon, after installing the sails (including a brand new staysail), we took a break, tossed off docklines, and just. went. sailing.

Ahhh. 

It looks like we’ve got decent weather to head north starting on Tuesday. Whether we go overnight or stop along the way depends on how we’re feeling; we’d rather sail slowly than have to motor.

Still. Last year, we didn’t splash Mischief until November 7. We’re pretty far ahead of the game!