Sunday, August 22, 2010

Launch day!




363 days after turning the boat over she finally got a taste of her true element. I worked late into the night sanding, varnishing and completing other chores so I could take her to the Toledo Wooden Boat Festival yesterday. My wife and I drove to Toledo and launched her about a mile and a half from the festival.

When I thought of launching Ravn I envisioned a larger affair with friends and food, but the actual launch was better than I imagined; just my wife and I at a quiet boat launch with no one else around. I tied a glass nazir (a Turkish bead that symbolizes the eye of God) around the stem with marline and tucked a spruce bow and a raven feather in the marline. Then I said a little prayer to God, poured my favorite beverage on the bow stem. Gave her a little shove off the trailer and she was afloat for the first time!

There's still a lot of work to do -- I need to make the mast, yard, boom, rudder, tiller and fit the hatches on the water-tight compartments -- but I feel like I've really reached a milestone.

The best part is that she rows like a dream. I'm eager to see what she will be like with two, three and four rowers.

4 comments:

  1. And what was that beverage, Brandon? Congratulations!

    doryman

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  2. OK. I'll fess up. I'm addicted to Pepsi One.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kabes: can you feather the oars while rowing. I see your oars are round (not square) at the kabes. I'm building a Sooty Tern by Iain Oughtred and would rather avoid oar locks, but kabes aren't removable readily. Thole pins can be.

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