The Christening

This morning we got together with John and Betty and christened the Eileen Farrell- with Muzz on the phone to say a few words. Poured the champagne all around the boat and asked King Neptune to look after her. Then Bill the tug boat captain and his wife came over and we all went for a spin down the bayou and out into the bay. Lots of fun. It's really hard learning to steer a boat this large into a tight ditch with other boats around, but I didn't hit anything. We dropped anchor and cooked up a bunch of steaks for lunch. It was incredibly lovely out there with the engines off just bobbing up and down.

Then, of course, the weather changed. Not storming, but raining really hard. The winch on the crane shorted out and opened the roof hatch of its own accord, and then jammed. The drive shaft started rattling around, the stuffing box started coming apart, and everyone ended up wading through knee-high water to get back to their cars.

The purpose of a sea trial is to find all the defects and bugs, and we did that. First of all, we have to put a muffler on that exhaust, the sound that puppy makes at 1600 rpm is unbearable. The shaft needs to pulled, welded up and turned, and the prop balanced and reinstalled with new bearings. Then we need to learn how to handle a boat that size.

The good news is that the engine is great and the boat itself is fabulous.

I came home, got in bed, and pulled the covers over my head.