To The Fuel Dock and Beyond.....

So, in the water we went yesterday morning.  Magic is a big old beamy catamaran: our beam is 21 feet while the ditch for the lift is 22 feet.  The math is pretty simple and there is no room for error.  But Horatio drove the lift in evenly and slowly we set down.  Oh my.

Omar said to start up the engines; first port and then starboard.  They have both been rebuilt and while they were tested with fresh water, this would begin the real test.  It didn't take too long for a knocking sound to emerge from the starboard engine room.  Omar listened a bit, the knocking continued, and he gave the sign to kill that engine.  Not exactly what we had planned, but oh well.

So our maiden voyage was with our starboard engine in neutral and a whole lot of line handlers.  We got pulled all the way to the fuel dock and tied up.  But by golly, we are a boat in the water.  Omar pulled out the starboard injectors to have them re-checked (under warranty) and installed our new spares.  He is a perfectionist and didn't like the new washers from Volvo so off he went to get some new copper washers.  They were installed and the starboard engine is purring.  So both engines are lovely to behold.

Alan and Omar had installed the forward and reverse shifters backwards so those got changed (this means the ceiling tile in the port aft stateroom comes down.)

The electrician came to finish up some of the alarm wiring.  It took a bit of time but then the alarms were completed to everyone's satisfaction.

But the gist of the day was, we were at the fuel dock and not going anywhere for a day or too.  The policy at this marina, is that boats that are not "sea ready" can remain at the fuel dock until they are "ready" to go.  And with a few engine issues, we could make the case we were not sea ready.  And while this is a bit of a drag, it works to our advantage as the fuel dock is free and a slip here is about $35 USD per day. We had planned to get a slip for a few days -- but sitting at the fuel dock is totally fine by us.

Magic is in the water and it is lovely to be floating and bobbing; listening to the shrimp through the hulls; and being a step closer to cruising.

Our projects today were simple:  get the jib up (about 30 minutes) and the main + associated lines in place (about 5 hours).  That main is a big old beast with a mind of its own.  But eventually we managed to get everything securely in place.  We still have some bits to sort out but Magic looks like a sailboat now:  in the water and sails installed.

Another day or so at the fuel dock (our injectors are due back tomorrow) and then on Friday we are out to the anchorage.  One step at a time.....