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 :)