The Launch

Talking about the Perry's visit and helping Graham move Artemo sort of got in the way of telling you all about 'splashing' Mystic Journey. That's what they call it when a boat goes back in the water after being up on the hard.

We splashed on Thursday. As Griff mentioned before we were booked to go in at 2PM, but they had an emergency haul out of a 'cat' that was having problems. The problems were actually fixed without hauling it out, but then another 'cat' came in and they hauled it out before putting us in.

I was surprised at how emotional it was for me to see Mystic Journey up on the lift and then back in the water. To start the splash they first put her onto the smaller lift. The one they use to put a boat up for storage. It enables them to place the boats quite close together. Then she was transferred to the lift with the slings so she could be lowered into the water. Just before they lowered her into the water, they applied the final touches to the anti-fouling paint on the keel. This was where the keel had been resting on the supports.

The video shows the last part of the splash when she actually goes into the water. The last scene is of Griff stepping onto the boat.

I (Griff) just wanted to add a bit to the bottom of this blog about the trip to St David's with Graham on Artemo. I had not realized all of the effects that this whole sailing thing had been having on me and probably still don't but I discovered something as a result of the trip.

Even though we had finally gotten the boat back in the water and I was feeling good about once more living in our home away from home, there was still a niggly going on for me. Lo and behold I discovered that it is not enough to just be on the water - I need to be sailing on the water.

When Graham and I took Artemo, Graham was gracious enough to allow me to take the helm for the whole trip. We had been checking the weather and although the forecast said fairly heavy seas and varied wind patterns, there was no break in the unsettled weather forecast for the week ahead so we decided to go ahead. Sure enough we had seas, mostly from the east, with swells up around 3 meters and the wind also almost directly from the east so we ended up motor sailing and tacking a fair amount. After about the first hour I realized that the uneasiness or the unfulfilled feelings I had been experiencing were leaving and I mentioned to Graham that this sail was exactly what I needed to get totally back on track. Amazing discovery!!!

To finish, we made St Davids safely, got Artemo settled and I came back to Cheryl and Mystic Journey feeling much better and with some new insight into myself. What more could one ask of a day!!