Milestone #3 has been met, finally! We drop lines and depart Portland for our first day underway on our trip! This day came after many preceding days of highs and lows as we wrestled with boat preparation tasks. We departed with a few tasks still to do, but revel in what has been accomplished in a little over a week at the marina. Among other things, we finished putting all of the deck hardware on, including cabintop winches, dorade vents and guards, stanchions, lifelines, bow and stern pulpits, and the bimini. We were blessed with mostly clear and warm weather for this work. A few surprises arised, including the discovery that the new windows that I had installed were leaking after the first rain. Karen and I had spent a lot of sweaty hours under the boat canopy at home caulking and mounting all 367 bolts to secure these windows, so to find drips of water coming down around a dozen of the bolts put me in a very raw mood. We spent several days removing the old windows, scraping away old caulking and recaulking (and applying much more caulk then before!) as well as using epoxy to seal the bolt heads to the top of the windows. Needless to say, we left this window re-work to the end of the week so that we could head out as soon as the agony was over.
While Karen and I filled our days as task masters, the boys spent some time getting used to the kayaks again, exploring the marina and the shallows.We also worked on the awning that Karen had prepared at home. She cut and sewed it without having the benefit of seeing the boat rigged yet, so there were a few minor adjustments needed, this time without the benefit of a sewing machine!
And, with the adjustments made, we had a wonderful spot to work and rest out of the heat.
During the week we had a visit from our friends, the Skillins, with whom we skied together this past winter at Sunday River. Even though they own a powerboat, we still try to find a way to befriend them! They took us out for an afternoon joy ride througout Portland harbor and over to Potts Harbor for lunch.
