lumina
06-03-2011, 11:30 PM
Hi All,
Well we splashed today. Not quite ready but I wanted it off the stands.
It's not as clean as it usually is and the super structure isn't completely waxed and the new canvas and new VHF antennas aren't ready and the electrician hasn't finished his projects but anyway......................
With all of the crappy weather up here in Mass it's put everyone behind by appx 3-4 weeks which means all the service providers are behind etc etc.
But nothing really mattered as I was taking an afternoon nap at the slip.
It was a HARROWING launch however, saved only thru the talent of my co-captain Joe, mate John and sheer incredible luck. I'm sorry I don't have pictures but let me try and sum it up.
Our launch site has always been a wide open landing a little shallow at low tide but last year the cove making up the landing and surrounding area was dredged (good thing) however the boatyard decided to add a 120 foot dock right along the port side of the launch glide path, supposedly for folks to ”motor up for quick stops, minor issues, or to get someone to listen to "that noise"”.
Well to try and be short winded..... people tie up there for extended periods of time and a boat of any size narrows the glide path by a third.
As we were moved into the position we were immediately concerned to see an appx 37 foot motor yacht tied to the dock. I failed to mention it was blowing 25-30 MPH on an incoming tide.
We hailed the boat and asked them to put out some fenders but were told they only had 2 and were using them against the dock. We had some yard personnel and the boats occupants stand ready on their boat to try and fend us off by hand (yeah right) should something happen and we put out four fenders of our own.
Once they nudged us in far enough to start the engines we fired them up, gave them a few minutes to settle in and hailed the yard to set us free. We backed out almost perfectly with maybe 6 or 8 feet between us and the upcoming boat, everything looked great, I was starting to give thanks when the wind whipped up and the bow of our boat just slid to port in a matter of a minute. We took immediate action to swing her back to starboard but our reverse trajectory and the wind held her fast.
I’m standing on the port side and no word of a lie I thought “we’re gonna take a big chunk outa this A$$holes boat (no insult intended). The collision would have started about 20 feet up from the stern on our port side. This is all happening in minutes/seconds. So we’re fending of the boat, the 8v71s are pulling starboard for all they’re worth and the 5 people on the other boat are trying to push us off to no avail.
So here’s where the sheer luck comes in, just as we are about to hit, seconds before, the engines pulled our bow starboard enough so we slid by with less than an inch between us, LITTERALLY.
Holy crap we were shaking, laughing, stunned. So I need to say thank you to the big guy upstairs.
Pictures are just before launch this morning at 10 AM.
Well we splashed today. Not quite ready but I wanted it off the stands.
It's not as clean as it usually is and the super structure isn't completely waxed and the new canvas and new VHF antennas aren't ready and the electrician hasn't finished his projects but anyway......................
With all of the crappy weather up here in Mass it's put everyone behind by appx 3-4 weeks which means all the service providers are behind etc etc.
But nothing really mattered as I was taking an afternoon nap at the slip.
It was a HARROWING launch however, saved only thru the talent of my co-captain Joe, mate John and sheer incredible luck. I'm sorry I don't have pictures but let me try and sum it up.
Our launch site has always been a wide open landing a little shallow at low tide but last year the cove making up the landing and surrounding area was dredged (good thing) however the boatyard decided to add a 120 foot dock right along the port side of the launch glide path, supposedly for folks to ”motor up for quick stops, minor issues, or to get someone to listen to "that noise"”.
Well to try and be short winded..... people tie up there for extended periods of time and a boat of any size narrows the glide path by a third.
As we were moved into the position we were immediately concerned to see an appx 37 foot motor yacht tied to the dock. I failed to mention it was blowing 25-30 MPH on an incoming tide.
We hailed the boat and asked them to put out some fenders but were told they only had 2 and were using them against the dock. We had some yard personnel and the boats occupants stand ready on their boat to try and fend us off by hand (yeah right) should something happen and we put out four fenders of our own.
Once they nudged us in far enough to start the engines we fired them up, gave them a few minutes to settle in and hailed the yard to set us free. We backed out almost perfectly with maybe 6 or 8 feet between us and the upcoming boat, everything looked great, I was starting to give thanks when the wind whipped up and the bow of our boat just slid to port in a matter of a minute. We took immediate action to swing her back to starboard but our reverse trajectory and the wind held her fast.
I’m standing on the port side and no word of a lie I thought “we’re gonna take a big chunk outa this A$$holes boat (no insult intended). The collision would have started about 20 feet up from the stern on our port side. This is all happening in minutes/seconds. So we’re fending of the boat, the 8v71s are pulling starboard for all they’re worth and the 5 people on the other boat are trying to push us off to no avail.
So here’s where the sheer luck comes in, just as we are about to hit, seconds before, the engines pulled our bow starboard enough so we slid by with less than an inch between us, LITTERALLY.
Holy crap we were shaking, laughing, stunned. So I need to say thank you to the big guy upstairs.
Pictures are just before launch this morning at 10 AM.