Wrinkles Is Afloat

The day to launch Wrinkles finally arrived and Brady (the amazing yard guy at Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage) skillfully did the deed. The Travel Lift had no trouble picking Wrinkles up and gently setting her into the canal. Jim and Mike checked for leaks and happily reported that all was well. Wrinkles looks so much better in the water. A proper little yacht ready for adventure.

The Dripless Shaft Seal that Jim installed worked great. We fired up the little Yanmar diesel and it purred away. Once we put it into gear it seemed to jump around more than we would have liked. We tried forward and reverse and she seemed to be settling into place. The local prop and cutlass guy stopped by and said that every small Yanmar he had seen would jump around quite a bit. This made us relax a little, but we'll see how she does in the open water. We also found that the Yanmar wasn't discharging any cooling water. A couple hours later Jim and Mike had located all 6 of the missing water impeller fins and installed a new water impeller.

 

A big turtle immediately came to inspect Wrinkles, but left disappointed that the hull was free of sea life. Although the sun was blazing, we put the sails on and stood back to take a look. What a pretty ship she is!

We performed a proper little renaming ceremony and pleased the sea gods with some tasty libations. Now she can proudly be called Wrinkles by all who sail her.

 

The best friends ever

 

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