May 1, 2011
Aida, my Tanzer 7.5, is my first keel boat, so I wasn’t really sure how the launch from a crane would go down. It was easier and faster then I imagined – what I didn’t imagine was 40k winds gusting to 60k. Rain, snow, sunshine, sleet and everything in between. After I cooked bacon in the rain for a couple of hours while the crane put the docks in the crane driver thought we should get to the boats asap, I just had time for a quick sampling of my handiwork as the crane headed over to launch the boats. It was decided that we should postpone until Sunday morning – 7am.
I spent the evening in Brantford, so I had an early drive, no traffic. The highway photo is the sunrise over Hamilton. I arrived at 7:30 expecting to be the last of the second row of boats to go in – instead I was the first of the second row, I had just attached my lines and fenders when Martin yelled ” you’re next. You ready?” I hopped out and we attached the slings off it went, and into the drink. Thanks to everyone that helped out. It was smooth and painless. The ride over to the lake was fairly uneventful – there was the first big wave that caught me off guard and threw everything across the cabin! After a couple of hours the wind really picked up and the snow/rain started – a few boats were still making it into the APSC lagoon and it was a nasty time on the water. The ice had only cleared a week ago so it was pretty cold getting my hands wet on the lines and moorings – other than that – it was a productive soggy weekend.