She's afloat!

As we were preparing to schedule our launch this spring we discovered a note from our mechanic last fall regarding a repair he planned to do over the winter. We realized we'd never been billed for it, so we contacted the yard and learned that it was never completed! (Partly our fault for not knowing how the yard's chain of command works). The strut that holds our propeller shaft in place was loose, allowing water to enter the hull through the screw holes. (The photos can be enlarged by clicking on them. That will allow you to read my comment on the first photo). The fix took some time, so, after a delayed start to the season, we are happy to report that Cattitude is once again afloat and (nearly) ready to go cruising. We are eager to try out our new sail.

We will have to wait a few days to leave harbor, though. Today there is a slight breeze, but we haven't finished moving aboard. Besides which, it's beastly hot (90 degrees outside and nearly 100 in the cabin!), so we don't mind waiting. Meanwhile we are hanging out in the beautiful, air-conditioned Charlevoix Public Library, which has wireless internet. This evening when the temperature drops (we hope) we will complete a few more chores to ready the boat for cruising. We still need to clean the antifreeze out of the water tanks and fill them with fresh water, as well as move the dinghy's outboard from the car to our stern rail. And sometime when we feel ambitious, there's some trouble-shooting to do on our oven, which stopped working a couple of summers ago. The fridge, however, is working great, so we have lots of cold lemonade to keep us going. Tonight's and tomorrow's forecasts include the possibility of storms, which will probably delay our departure still more, but will hopefully cool things down a bit. Last night it cooled down enough that we needed a blanket! Great sleeping weather. It feels good to be living on board once again.