launch day
		6-23-99: well the launch went great a few weeks ago and the two and a half hour cruise upstream to my home port went like a charm! I’ve worked on a few upgrades since it went in. I had a Lazy Cradle made for the boat by UK Sails over the winter. That’s one of those Lazy Jacks and sail cover all in one systems. It looks great! I was lucky enough to find a 19 yr. old kid that is young enough to still find going up the mast fun to install the blocks on the upper spreaders for me. Weather permitting I’ll give it a trial run next weekend and will let you know how it works. I also mounted a BBQ kettle off the stern rail. It’s propane powered and works great! a must for any boater. There is something magical about grilling a New York Strip 5 miles from shore. The pump on the head was leaking so instead of replacing the $80 pump, I bought the $130 toilet. The install went quick and painless. When you come down the dock with a new marine toilet and announce your about to install it, you’ll find you suddenly don’t have a friend in the world! I replaced all the hoses and water lines while I was there and being that I did it with the holding tank still winterized, the famous aroma was not a problem. I also replaced the fresh water tank since the old one was leaking and impossible to get to. I got fancy and installed some indirect lighting in the salon and a new faucet in the head. I also upgraded the 900mhz telephone with a new 2.4ghz phone so the range will better reach the pool. That and the dual antenna base unit looks cool. I’ve had regular phone service run to my dock for a year now and it saves on the cell phone bill during the summer. I usually do the annual shakedown cruise in the early part of June but my partner in crime, C bowrider Kremlick had to cancel out at the last minute to handle some personal business. I’m not at liberty to tell you what it was but I can tell you that it involved large sums of money and lots of silicon breasted women. We all have to make our sacrifices in life once in a while. But that gave me time to spend all week on boat projects during the day and pool/Jacuzzi projects in the evening. It got in the high 90s everyday so I made the best of the pool after sunset. A nice perk of living on the Canadian border is the easy access to Molson XXX. A 7.3% alcohol beer that really takes the edge off of the heat.I’ll post some yacht Club pics soon and some fresh sailing pics. I’m planning on a page showcasing the “Mac” race and the wild times surrounding it shortly after the race weekend. It’s running on the 17th of July this year and is a don’t miss if you’ve never done “boat nite” on the Friday before and watch the world cup class yachts roll out Saturday morning to the sounds of the Bagpipe band! I have a slip right downtown reserved so I’ll be in the middle of the action!!.....ttyl, Cap’t Zig