Delivery

So this morning I was so worried that I wasn't going to get my boat this month at all since we had intense weather.  The whole mouth of the harbor was engulfed in a single wave.  One of the two piers here in sheboygan was under water!  The weather report said that the wind was gusting up to 50 MPH.  I had already prepared myself for the let down when I called Jim to see bout getting my boat delivered.  As it turns out he was more than ready to move the boat even in the horrible weather.  I'm sure someday I'll be out on the water in bad weather like this, but as long as I'm not near any rocks I'm sure my new boat will be able to take the beating.  As I've been reading Blue Water, and Sensible Cruising: A Thoreau Approach I've realized just how well suited the Britol 24 really is to heavy weather sailing.
I wrangled up a couple of my brothers and headed down to the street by the boat yard where it was going to go, and waited.  The wind was pretty strong, and many of the boats were swaying back and forth (even the ones on trailers).  The drop off went without a hitch.  I was so happy to finally see my very own boat here in town where I can work on it at my convenience.  I feel like I'm not putting into words all of my emotions, it wasn't quite like christmas, I'm sure I would have been bouncing off the walls if someone had bought the boat for me; but since I've done this on my own I feel some self satisfaction, but I also understand that I have a lot of work ahead of me.  My brother, Mitch, helped me carry the diesel engine off of the truck and set it down on a nearby trailer to wait while the rest of the equipment was being offloaded. After the stands were secured in place and I waved goodbye to Jim, I took my brother and his wife up on board to show them around.  Maybe I hadn't explained that it was a fixer upper; but I can see the potential she has.  After the brief tour they left, and I got down to work.  It was a couple minutes after everyone left that I realized that I still had to transfer the diesel into my car.  I'm not sure how much it weighed, but it definitely strained my back, and bogged down the rear end of my Honda Civic as I crammed it into the trunk.  It seems to be solidly built.  If only I knew why it was removed in the first place.
I spent the rest of the daylight hours opening up and examining every single compartment on the vessel.  It was modified in all sorts of ways to make it more suited to cruising life.  Right now I can't even think of what to type, I smell like 40 year old fiberglass and musty settee cushions, but it's all a labor of love.
I now know a lot more of what my boat has, and what it doesn't have.  I'll soon have a list of to-dos that I can post for y'all to see.  BUt for right now it's going to be a lot of cosmetic work.  Cleaning, scrubbing, bleaching, varnishing, painting.  Soon I'll start checking the wiring and ordering equipment that I might need.  I'm just glad that I have a project and that I am one step closer to realizing my dreams.
Don't just think about it, go out and do it.  No one is stopping you.
Thanks for reading I'd appreciate any comments or questions.  Also I'm still in search of the perfect name.  One recent suggestion is:  Aida     Let me know what you think.