Krisann and I agreed that when we bought our little Island Packet 31 twelve years ago, that we’d hold on to her only for as long as we were enjoying ourselves.   Should we find that the boating hobby wasn’t for us, we’d let her go. Dutifully, we’d have off-season checkpoints to see if we were in fact still having fun or whether our time and hard-earned dollars could be better spent somewhere other than that voracious hole in the water that we named Krisanngria.

Easier said than done.  Over time, the pros and cons discussions disappeared in our wake.  Sailing is a just what we do in the summer. But mere sailing is far different than boat ownership. Remember “sailing” includes spring commissioning, a fancy phrase for scraping knuckles, being overcome by toxic fumes, questing for one-of-a-kind parts, and not a little bit of wallowing in muck and frustration. Commissioning is the maritime equivalent of “opening up the cottage”.  So, without discussion, debate, or further ado, commissioning is underway.

On Saturday June 4th I launch, 4 short days from when I type this.  As always, there is more to do simply to get in the water.  We’ve had 14 of 19 rainy weekends this year and another system is supposed to hit Thursday bringing with it even more rain.  Not good.  As of today, the forecast shows the after effects of the system lingering through Saturday potentially making launch day miserable.

I was actually ahead of the game this year painting the bottom with a fresh coat of Cukote anti-foul and replacing the engine’s raw water hose by early spring when life hit like an early season hurricane effectively taking me out of commission for almost all of May.  

Because our personal commitments and the rain slowed progress on commissioning to a virtual standstill, launching prior to Memorial Day became a pipe dream.  With May off the table, from 5:30 to 7:30 am, before work, I painted the boot-stripe, lubed and checked the Krisanngria’s seacocks, and flushed the motor. 

She’s not buffed, the gear is strewn everywhere and the bow thruster’s not working, but below the water line Krisanngria is ready to go. Regardless of all of the spring setbacks; the exhaustion, the mist, and the mud I am excited because the good stuff is about begin.  The anticipation of just being aboard and ghosting along to nowhere in particular impresses upon me that best part of sailing launches as well on Saturday as well.