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Launching Day!
May 17, 2001
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 The big day finally
arrived--launching! For the couple weeks leading up the launch, I lived
and breathed Triton. There were so many last minute things to finish up,
so many projects that would never be completed in time--and on top of all that,
there was the stress of trying to get the engine to
run. I was determined to launch with or without the engine, and after
a while I decided it would be easier to assume that it would not be
running. (Right I was!) That decision made my life a little easier,
but there was still so much to do. I spent most of my time on the boat,
trying to get as many projects out of the way as possible. Then, I
concentrated on the things that absolutely had to be done before
splashing--painting the bottom, fixing the false keel crack, preparing the mast
and getting it up on the boat, and partially dismantling the shed supports so
that the boat could be removed. I had decided to leave the shed up until
after launch, as it was convenient having the boat under cover. Last but
not least, I had to unload all the junk and unnecessary tools from the boat,
load on things needed for the boat in the water, and clean everything
thoroughly--inside and out. The evening before launch, everything was as
ready was it was going to be, and I even managed a good nights' sleep! My
sister even sent me some congratulatory balloons--nice!
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 True
to form, Richardson's Boat Moving arrived a half hour early on Thursday
morning. Fortunately, all was ready. They were efficient as
always. Loading the boat was a simple matter of backing the truck
underneath the boat, installing the keep support in the center, and then
supporting the boat with four hydraulic pads. If you've never seen one of
these Brownell trucks in action, it is a sight to behold. I don't know
what anyone did before them. They are very slick rigs, and Richardson's is
the best in the area.
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Loading the boat on the trailer
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Moving for the first time in 21 months
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Emerging from the shed, and getting our first view of the boat
from a distance greater than 3 feet in oh-so-long!
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Clear of the shed and in the open air, finally...
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and off through the yard to the road.
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It looked weird to see the shed empty--and it looked huge,
too!
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Here she comes down the hill to the launching ramp at Falmouth
Town Landing.
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...and then down the ramp.
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 The
truck backs down the ramp until the trailer is just in the water. Then,
the operator disengages the trailer from the tractor, and the whole thing rolls
into the water to allow the boat to easily float off.
I have more photos (currently prints) that Bill Hubbell, a
professional photographer, took. I will post a new sequence of photos in
the near future--his photos show the launching better (that's him at the lower
right corner of the photo, left). However, I am going to have the photos
put on a CD so that I can get better quality transferring them to the web...my
scanner just doesn't do them justice (and it takes a lot of time). Come
back in a few days to see the new photos!
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Into the water!
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Floating at the dock at the town landing
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 Because
the engine was not running at the time of the launch, we had to tow the boat
around using the yacht club workboat--a 17' Carolina Skiff with a decrepit,
barely-running Yamaha used-to-be 25 horsepower motor. It didn't fail us,
but at the same time was barely able to do the job. After the boat was
floating, I drove next door to the yacht club and picked up the workboat, which
we secured to the port quarter of Glissando--with many fenders
between! This towing arrangement worked very well. We towed over to
the yacht club dock to prepare the mast for stepping, and then next door to
Handy Boat where the mast was stepped using their boom truck. |
Pushing the boat over to Handy's...my Dad at the helm of Glissando,
and my Mom at the lower right. Click here
to see some photos and description of the mast stepping.
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On her mooring at the end of the day
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