On some plane, this all makes sense…

We spent the week living in the lap of luxury at Byron & Paula’s place. We were in no rush to get to the boat since the Newfoundland weather was being distinctly Newfoundlandish; cold, damp, and cold. Besides, we were having way too much fun hanging with friends. We even got Paula interested in learning to play ukulele — so much so that she went off and bought one.

But after nearly a week getting spoiled with a warm bed and good food at Paula & Byron’s place, we finally girded our loins and moved back onto our little floating home of Pachina Mia. Except of course, she wasn’t floating yet, and was a complete disarray.

Slowly, over a matter of a few days, we managed to get the boat more livable, and prepare her for launch. Of course there were a few necessary jobs to do first. We had to  paint the bottom with new antifoul to keep the critters from attacking our hull. And we had to change the sacrificial zincs to keep the water from corroding our propeller and shaft and just about everything metal.

Launch day finally arrived, and Pachina went in without a hitch. It was a smooth, easy lift; the best we’ve had. And she floated off the trailer looking strong and proud. Unfortunately she was sinking — fast. A thru hull was leaking, and was letting in water at an uncomfortable rate.

Despite the valiant efforts of Byron, we could not stop the leak. So a few days later we hauled out again and surveyed the damage. We did indeed have a cracked thru hull, likely caused when we hauled out last fall. There was nothing to be done except replace it.

Byron once again came to the rescue by donating an unused thru hull, so then all we had to do was remove the old one, and insert the new. Of course no boating job is ever as easy as it sounds. But after much banging and sawing, cursing and swearing, we finally managed to get the job done.

A couple of days of curing (during which we moved back into P&B’s — what are we going to do without you 🙁 ) we re-launched … and she wasn’t sinking!! So we moved back on board with the comforting knowledge our boat still floats, and our bilge pump works pretty damn well 😉 .

While we were dealing with all our struggles to stay afloat, B&P were busy launching their own boat, getting the mast on, and preparing for the big sail south. Like many of us, they’d been working towards this goal for many years, and with work and health issues mostly settled, the time had come.

All too soon they were packed up and gone. The club already feels lesser for the loss, but luckily we can all stay in touch with them via their blog: C Whisper.

During all this activity I managed to turn 52. I received some wonderful notes and gifts, and Ann even cooked me an amazing moose stew. The moose was given to us by new friends Jaimie and Nick. They are fellow sailors who also are moving on from Corner Brook.

But the best gift of all came from my wonderful nephew (great nephew?) Connor. Who could ask for more:

Now that we’re back in the water, and not sinking too fast, we’re slowing bringing the boat back to life. We have a few small jobs, and one major one to do yet. If all goes well though we plan to cut the dock lines once again and sail north around Newfoundland, over to Lewisporte. Will we make it? Who knows…