On Tuesday, I experienced my first launch and subsequent delivery home from a marina/boatyard of my Pearson 30. I was pretty much a bag of nerves most of the time. My submarine service maintenance paranoia was in full-effect.
I had no problems with watching the marina staff get my boat into position and lower it into the water. They were careful, and professional. As soon as the hull was in the water, and the tension was off of the slings, my hackles were up. I jumped aboard and immediately inspected all seacocks and the stuffing box that I had just re-packed. I had to tighten one tapered cone seacock that was weeping, and it's attendant hose clamp. I deliberately left the stuffing box a little loose to avoid damaging the new packing material. An adjustment of one flat stopped the drip. I turned the shaft by hand, and still no drip.
I opened the sea water intake valve for the engine and fired it up. The engine started perfectly, and idled smoothly. Oil pressure, temperature and charging output were all normal. I put the engine in gear, and motored against the docklines to run in the shaft packing a bit and observe the drip rate, and engine gauges for 15 minutes.
After that, I bent on a tiny working jib and motored out of the marina. I only had to travel about 13 miles, but my nerves were still jangling. I really don't know why. I had VHF, cell phone, PFD's, food, water, damage control equipment, tools, the works. Watertight integrity of the hull and all seawater systems seemed stable.
I sailed a close reach, in a 12kt breeze for about 7 miles, making almost 7 kts on that tiny jib and a blown-out mainsail. The boat sailed so smoothly into the light chop, I was able to closely follow my pre-programmed course on the GPS and I finally relaxed a little. The boat is simply gorgeous. It has a solid, confident feeling as it slices through the water.
For the remaining 6 miles, the wind completely shut down, and I motored to my house, for a flawless, stern-first docking in my new slip.
She's a keeper, for sure.
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