On the hook

After five months on the hard, Kiawah made it back into the water on Tuesday.  It was a big day.  Lots of hard work since our arrival to get her ready, and lots of scrambling  as we heard the behemoth travel lift lurching  its way down the pavement to come get her.  So many things are easier to do when a boat is out of the water (like painting the bottom).  

SPF 0

Engine check

The lift picked her up like a toy and placed her gently into the water.  After a quick through-hull inspection (no spurting water!), Scott deemed her seaworthy and we took off to spend a couple of nights "on the hook".  We didn't travel too far from Cracker Boy, as we had a date with Mack Sails on Thursday to do a final tune of her new rigging.

Bow sprites

Dropping the hook

It was a gorgeous afternoon and it felt great to finally be on the water. We were all ready for a change of scenery and a taste of what phase III of our trip would be like... The water phase. Pelicans soared around us (the girls and I are in love with these crazy birds), and a pod of bottle nosed dolphins circled nearby as we made our way to Faber Cove (off Hutchinson Island) to anchor. 

xoxo

We spent the next day cleaning the boat and getting things organized.  The girls scrubbed the decks (a job they like as it always ends in a water fight).  We were able to get quite a bit of work out of them until they noticed fish rising near the boat.  They spent  the rest of the day and evening  fashioning fish hooks out of paper clips and Bobbie pins, trying to catch one.  Their makeshift weapons baited with whatever they could abscond with from the fridge.  No luck.  Wren came close when one took her bait (a pickle), hook and all.  Boat-school lesson of the day: How to tie a fisherman's knot.  We're hoping Santa will take pity on them and bring them some real fishing gear for Christmas.

Dinghy fun

Corn meal pancakes

First swim

Nature journal

It's Friday night now (though I won't post this until tomorrow as it's 11:52!).  We've had a slip at the Cracker Boy dock for the past two nights.  More expensive than being on the hook for sure ($50 a night, vs. free), but a crack in the holding tank (yep, the" poop-tank") kept us here another day trying to find someone who welds plastic in the area, which we did this afternoon.   The 20 gallon tank has been re-installed and we're up and running (no pun intended).   These past two weeks I have been continually amazed at Scott's ability to trouble-shoot, problem solve, and generally fix pretty much anything.  I've always known this to be true about him, but never has it been so apparent.  I can't imaging owning a boat with anyone else.