Upgrade

Upgraded to v17. Originally I was going to upgrade over Wi-Fi but the file was over 700MB and would crush my cell data. Next time I might try moving Nauti-Dog closer to a dock or marina offering Wi-Fi. But just used a flash card this time. Also mounted the i70 display. The most difficult part was removing the only displays.

Unplanned launch

Nauti-Dog was so excited to get back into the water she jumped in early! What happened was I received a call late at night from the boatyard saying there was a scheduling error and Nauti-Dog was blocking the other boats behind her from launching. They asked if I could launch the following morning. After scrambling early in the morning to connect the raw water line and other miscellaneous takes we were ready(ish). We were hauled across the yard and made a quick stop to step the mask then splashed in. The Yanmar started fine and there was no leaks from any of the thru-hulls. We powered across the harbor through drizzle and steady winds.  After giving the boat another thorough look over we hailed for a launch pickup. And waited. Called again and waited. And waited some more. It turned out there was another boat named Knotty Girl approaching at the same they mixed up the boats. We finally made it back ashore to dry off and warm up. 

Exploring test run

Around mid afternoon I brought the outboard down to the dinghy dock. After mounting it the dinghy transom I was ready to start it up. It started with a puff smoke from the fogging oil but that quickly dissipated. I did a few small turns near the dock then decided to do a longer test run. So I motored over to the El Galeón for look of the 16th century Spanish galleon replica.

Dinghy launched

It wasn’t covert launching of the dinghy this year. Instead  it was a predawn mission. In the past I have used an air compressor to inflate the tube half way but this year I used a hand pump. I figure by the time I dragged the air compressor out and loaded it would the same time as few extra pumps. A few tips below to remember.

1. Use a foot pump vs bicycle style pump your back will thank you.
2. Launch at pre-high tide so the water raises to you
3. Get a helper!

Fresh Paint

Finished the second coat of bottom paint this evening. The next step is too grab an extra set of boat stands so I can move the original stands. Some folks in the yard just pull away the 2 bow side stands to paint but with extra stands available just playing it safe. Also need to cut a new hose to connect the raw intake thru-hull to the strainer.