Saturday, February 9, 2008

The Launch ~ 2 February 2008


Years ago I was going to start a blog.  What I finally accomplished was my ITALY AT LAST  blog.  Oh, Italia.  I can never get enough of it.


But now this will be our Boom Boom II blog.

Where to begin.

We took delivery of BoomBoom II in February 2008 . . . our brand-spanking new MacGregor 26M.


We brought her home on 27 January 2008. It was a beautiful day for the trip to Wilmington to pick her up ... temperature in the 50s-60s.

And the mild weather held for the next weekend, our first in our new boat. Bill had been making modifications during the week (of course), and on Saturday, 2 February, we launched her and spoke these words:

We Christen thee ...
... with our hopes for a future of sailing life's waters together for many years to come

We Christen thee ...
... with our thanks for the many blessings we have had in our lives, and will have in the years ahead

We Christen thee ...
... knowing there will be rough seas ahead, but with the wisdom and your guidance to navigate through these storms and into calmer waters

We Christen thee ...
... with a name born of love and admiration ...



We Christen thee ... Boom Boom II


And with that I broke a bottle of champagne over her bow. (I had the bottle in several plastic bags to avoid leaving broken glass and champagne in the ramp area.)

There were a few people around at the lake, and once we were in the water they came over to the dock and chatted, admiring BoomBoom II and congratulating us.

Bill did a great job with his first launch.  One of those who came over to speak to us was happy to take our photo onboard.

For our maiden voyage, we decided to motor around to get the feel of the boat, so we didn't raise the mast at all. It was a beautiful day, in the 60s and sunny. Perfect.

The motor is 90HP and very quiet. Bill opened her up to see what she could do, and determined that the motor didn't reach its maximum speed, so probably has the wrong propeller. This model boat usually takes a 50HP motor, so we are kind of experimenting.  Bill will meet up with the dealer in a week to switch out the propeller.
                                           
    It was such a beautiful day . . .   
A VERY beautiful day!