This weekend was great. Saturday we changed the oil in the engines, drained the v-drives, and otherwise made the boat ready for the water. This morning I returned, filled the v-drives, took her down off the lift, and took my maiden voyage.
Everything was great. Low winds, nice weather, everything worked correctly, and life was generally fine. I called the wife, and had her meet me at our marina for a spin on the Potomac. I would like to mention 2 things at this point:
1) The supermoon created a super low tide and,
2) I turned the helm over, to the previous owner, so he could show me how to work a twin screw boat. (I was an I/O guy before this.)
As we entered the marina channel, I noted the lack of liquid in the mouth of the marina. I then pointed out all the mud we were churning. 30 seconds later, we are firmly grounded, in deep mud, a mere 10 feet from deeper water. We shut her down and scratched our heads. This is the first time ever that the PO had ever grounded a boat...my first time too lol.
The stern was about 7ft. from the seawall of the marina. It has beautiful , jagged, rusted rebar poking out of the ends. Being the spry stud that I am, I leaped from the stern to the wall without falling in, and without otherwise impaling myself in a manly fashion. Once upon the wall, I tied a stern line, bow line, and found a plank for the PO to cross. He is an older fella, and I was worried that he may not manage the feat, but he did so without incident.
The wife showed up, thinking I was full o' crap about grounding, and proceeded to laugh and take the PO home. Meanwhile I sat upon the dock and had a good chuckle about my predicament.
4.5 hours later, she was afloat! The wife and I clambered aboard, and took her out for a spin. She handled great. I have never piloted a flybridge before, and the all around view is awesome
We farted around for about 45 minutes, and brought her back into port. Did I mention that I have never piloted a twin screw before??Maneuvering the fat girl into our slip was a breeze. Got it perfect the first try! I will never go back, to a single screw, again. She spun on a dime, and gracefully stull her butt right into our new slip. Got her tied off, and proceeded to attempt to still my rapidly beating heart.
We hooked up the shore power, turned on the heat, and crawled all over the boat. Stuffing boxes may need to be tightened a smidge, but I will check them out again tomorrow after they have settled a bit.
Now...we have yet to re-name her, but we went ahead and "re-christened" her in style. Champagne toast and....uhhhh....we closed the curtains for a bit.
All and all, it was a great experience. I went ahead and got my first grounding ever out of the way, brough the new girlfriend home, and I didn't drown. Welcome Home "insert-name here"!
Pretty boat too. Life will never be the same. Let the awesome boating experiences begin.
