On Friday, September 23, my new Tartan 245 arrived from the factory in Painesville, OH to Annapolis. It took some trial and error for the rigging team to get the forestay up and the furler attached, and then to deal with her taking on water once launched due to a through-hull having the depth guage not fully screwed in propertly, and some gelcoat problems. Once that was all fixed, we had such high winds, and rain due to the remnants of Hurrican Ian blow through that we had to wait for that to pass, and then get water out of the boat that had come in from THAT. And then get the Torqueedo battery to take a charge, which it had not done despite being plugged in for the better part of 10 days. Finally hoisted the spin at the dock to check out how to rig it, and then drove away on Thursday, October 6, at about 5:35 pm. Hoisted the main, but the wind died, so motor-sailed up the Severn to Round Bay to Valentine Creek to home, about 8 miles, which took a bit over 2.5 hours. Motored at a little over 4 knots, and was happy to find that I had 64% of charge left on the battery once I made it home. Placed the boat on the side of my dock overnight after putting on the night canvas and making sure she was secure at the dock. Plugged everything in.
Next day it was blowing from the west, but after getting the engine to charge which it did not the night before, motored out and then came in to the lift and found that indeed the boat rose up nicely on the lift, with the lifting keel rising right easily inside her. Learned where to line the boat up to get the keel to land squarely on the Ibeam in the center of the lift. Great boat ride around and then up and down on the lift for 90 minutes to get it right. Also fixed the steaming light and the anchor light, which had been installed in the correct connections at the base of the mast but for which one of the ground wires had come out.
Next day it was blowing 10-15 from the east, so went to West Marine to buy a tiller extension and dock lines and a hand pump and a fire extinguisher, and came back and mounted the tiller extension on the tiller, which worked out fine. Spent an hour futzing around with the dock lines, trying to hold the boat in the right position to be lifted squarely in the center of the lift. Hard with 10-15 knots of wind, but after 90 minutes mostly got it straight.
Next day it was blowing 10 from the West, and after drama getting the engine to start, worked to figure out how to calibrate the depth/speed instruments. Luckily my under-30 daughter figured it all out, so for the first time I got to see depth and wind, apparent and true. We then went sailing out on Round Bay, and went around St. Helena Island and back. Gusts to 15 and 20 kept things interesting, but the amazing part was sailing where I had no idea what the depth really was, after sailing in this area for 8 years, and finding out that in many cases it was deeper than I thought. Hit my new record with the boat, 5.5 knots upwind in about 10 knots of wind. I handled the sheets while my daughter drove, and she found the helm quite responsive. I used the winches but not the self-tailing mechanism, so my arms and hands got a good workout. A glorious day out -- sunny and mid 60s, and only a few boats out. Wonderful first pleasure sail on my new boat!
Next day we had light winds of 5-6 knots from the SW, S, and SE. Took her out with a friend and again had him steer while I handled the sheets. She moved pretty well, making 3 knots with 4 knots of wind. Only a few other boats out, and again a glorious day, 68 degrees and sunny. Came home and buttoned her up and she easily went up the lift the first try in the right location. Came back after enjoying a beer with my friend and then saw that there was a water-line height line of schmutz on the boat, so got out the brush and bucket and washed down the boat on both sides, which wasn"t so easy on the port side, requiring lying in the side deck and leaning down with the brush. But to keep the boat clean is worth it, since she has no bottom paint!