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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!