Ballena Blanca launched today!
We did decided on a red stripe for the boot-top… here she is a with a little bling last month:
As of last week, I’ve finished painting the topsides, including the transom. Last weekend, I scrubbed and painted the bottom. Doesn’t she look imposing with her forbidding black keel?
But the big event was today. Launch day! Here’s Rick approaching the target with the travel-lift:
She’d been sitting there so long, tree-roots had grown under her keel. The guys had to chop and dig out a space for the lift straps to pass under:
Captain supervised– check the tires as she lifts off the ground.
Underway! For the first time in around 20 years.
She’s perfectly aligned. I think Rick’s done this before. A coupl’a’ times.
And she’s floating in the straps!
There’s a storm predicted for tomorrow, so Rick’s going to leave her in the lift-slip until it passes. Then it’ll be off to see if she’ll fit in the slip we’ve picked out.
The stuffing-boxes (all new packing from last fall) dribbled quite a bit– I tightened them up good and now they don’t leak. There aren’t any leaks I can find (it was raining so much today the pumps were running from rain-water leaking through the windows!).
Now it’s on to rebuilding the cabin!