First Sail...

The family and I took the boat out for it's maiden voyage on Saturday and had a great time on the lake! My father in law was in town for the weekend and was a great hand helping me work the bugs out on the boat. I even got my pregnant apprehensive wife to go along for a ride and she sat grinning on the bow for most the way. We had a great time and kicked off a really nice father's day weekend.

I decided to use the old blown out main for the first time out and hang on to the new one for awhile. It was a perfect day with steady wind, sunshine and a quiet lake with few power boats. I just couldn't wait and decided to tempt fate and run the engine briefly with only one good mounting bracket. I really only need it for a few moments to motor in and out of the slip so I think I can get by for a few weeks until I can locate a new bracket.

All said we had a great time and it was worth the wait...

At last!

Splash! After a busy week of last minute tasks and repairs the boat is finally resting comfortably in a slip. This is the first time I've launched this boat and was pleasantly surprised how smoothly everything went. I was able to install the new bow eye and winch, finish repairs to the outboard and mount a windex 15 to the masthead.

I was however sucker punched with a new problem, which is my normally my luck. When fastening the outboard to the engine bracket the port side clamp broke off, I guess I over tightened it or it had an unnoticed crack. I limped the boat over to it's slip but this will need to be resolved before I can really start using the boat. This Suzuki DT8 was made in 84 so I'm sure the part is going to be next to impossible to find. I'll start checking eBay and craigslist but I'm not going to hold my breath. I'm thinking that Tohatsu 6 sail pro is going to find it's way to my doorstep.