Friday, December 20, 2013

Splish Splash

I’m proud to say that Moitessier is back in the water.  We got her back in a couple days ago, and I must say, I never thought this day would actually come.  The day of the splashing was unnerving.  We had spent the day before prepping all that we could to ensure everything would go smoothly.  We prepared by vacuuming the bilges, checking that the thru-hulls that needed to be open were open, and closing the ones that didn’t.  We did a thorough off the hard cleaning as well, as Moitessier was filthy from all the yard work that had been going on around us.  We got ready our dock lines, our fenders, and made sure that we had a boat hook handy if we needed it.  In the end, everything went off with out a hitch.  We were both a bit surprised to see that the engine was working properly and that none of our thru-hulls leaked.  Actually we were REALLY surprised about that one.

I could tell that Frank was more anxious than I was, and I can surely understand why, as this day was the culmination of 1 year and 8 months worth of work that he has done.  I am very, very proud of him as everything that he has taken on he has learned along the way.  I have simply been his helper, the one who he’d vent to (yell at), as well as the primary financier.  This has had its own challenges of course, but nothing compared to what he has had to overcome.  Without his problem solving skills, we would’ve never been able to refit to the extent that we have.  It has been an arduous road, and often I wondered if we would ever make it to the end.  Not just make it back into the water, but make it as a couple, as 2 people coming together to live a shared dream.  This has been the most challenging thing that either one of us has taken on, and we have risked everything for it….our relationship, our savings, our mental well being.  We have both learned a lot about ourselves and each other, and the past 2 years of this refit has taught us more about one another than the 9 years we had been together prior.  We have learned our limitations, our shortcomings, our strengths, and our flaws.  As sad as it may be to grow up and to see that we are weak at times, the juxtaposition between that and what we have overcome has certainly  been most enriching.  From here, what will we do?  Where will we go?  Many people have asked us this, and to be honest, I have no idea…

In the slings...
Our empty concrete pad where we have lived for 1 yr and 8 months
Finally in the water!
Frank relaxing in our hammock after a stressful day
Our new view :)



7 comments:

  1. Yu and Frank,

    I'm really glad for you. You have done an amazing amount of work and your boat is beautiful. Where you will go is sailing. The destination is never as important as the sailing to get there.

    Congratulations on being back in the water.

    Brad

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  2. Congrats to you both!

    "Where will we go?"

    Just go wherever the wind takes you ;-)
    Looks good floating on the water. Good lines from any angle. I'm sure the slip would be much quieter than in the yard. Now you can be rocked to sleep with the movement of the water around you.

    Most important, have fun! :D

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  3. Well done guys. We purchase our new (to us) boat in Italy in 2015 and maybe see you in the Caribbean. Our refit is to come.

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    1. Thanks. Good luck on finding your boat and refitting. Let us know how it goes.

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  4. Congrats guys. Happy to see you back in the water.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! Glad to see you guys are back in as well. Happy New Year to you.

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  5. Thanks for sharing your refit, it's trials, tribulations and victories. It's a great reference and has had a large influence in my thinking of what boat I'll get. Please keep it going, more power to you.

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