Relaunch is always a tense time.
How did Cook manage to sort everything out in his head? Wonder how he dealt with stress? His purpose for coming here to measure the
Transit of Mercury with Charles Green probably got him well in tune with nature, the universe, and everything he needed to know about navigating this harbour and its river systems.
Dirunal tide. Twice a day, that gives us a two hour window when the Whitianga Harbour is deep enough for Anasazi Girl to be lifted, launched, and moved down river into Mercury Bay's deeper waters.
Darryl Smith, the
Whitianaga Marina manager asked us how work was progressing. We told him everything was moving forward with the haul-out. Our biggest stress was that if we had any issues with the boat after the launch, the time pressure to get in and out of the travel-lift slip was really tight, as was the time to get out of the river and secured to a safe mooring.
Darryl told us to relax. The timing was perfect. The marina was already scheduled to re-dredge some of the slipways that had been silted in due to the extreme tides. He said he would make sure the visitor's dock was dredged first, so there would be a deep-water berth that could accommodate
Anasazi Girl and any other deep draft vessels.
What a huge relief. This would allow us to carefully check all the systems on the boat before leaving the protected bay.
On Thursday afternoon, after James prepared and painted the under-side of Anasazi Girl's keel bulb, the boat sat in slings overnight at the marina. The next day, Darryl and Graham Murrell (who is in charge of the travel-lift operations & maintenance) showed up at 5:45 am, in the dark, to launch us.
A. Girl slipped into the water without a breath of wind or drama.
The kids and I met James at the boat later that morning. We were no longer boatyard rats. We were in the water: E Pier, end-tied, floating once again.
The fresh paint and non-skid on the decks and cockpit felt good on our bare feet. Rough on the delicate clothes and the soon to be crawling baby, but clean, safe, secure. It would keep us firmly attached to the boat in wet conditions.
Tormentina and Raivo were happy to be back in their home space. They took a break from sibling rivalry to get re-acquainted with the boat. They measured their bodies' growth since we had moved off by hanging on the carbon grab bars, sitting up on the water tanks, and crawling through the quarter berths. Their tiny bodies had grown, but they could still slip easily through the escape hatches, in and out of the transom.
I was blown away when they called out to me from the aft compartment to tell me, "Mom! Everything is dry in here. Dad did a good job."
Big relief. We were back in the water. The water was on the outside of the boat. Thanks to the marina for their excellent service and support during our haul-out in Mercury Bay.
Anasazi Girl is currently end-tied to E-Pier. Visitors are welcome.
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Graham Murrell, Marty Pooley, and James remove the acro-props from Anasazi Girl's cradle area.
Whitianga Marina, Coromandel Peninsula - NEW ZEALAND. (June 2013) |
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Graham Murrell shifts A. Girl into position for launch.
Whitianga Marina, Coromandel Peninsula - NEW ZEALAND. (June 2013) |
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James under the bulb preparing the under-side for primer + paint.
Whitianga Marina, Coromandel Peninsula - NEW ZEALAND. (June 2013) |
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James, Mitch Pascoe and Karl Storey inspecting the underside of the keel bulb.
Whitianga Marina, Coromandel Peninsula - NEW ZEALAND. (June 2013) |
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A. Girl on the freshly dredged slipway at E Pier at the Whitianga Marina Visitor's Dock.
Coromandel Peninsula - NEW ZEALAND. (June 2013) |
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