Stuck on the hard or the first time I sailed SaltyPaws

Wouldn't it be a good idea to take your new boat out for a spin, the first time in the middle of a sunny day, with little wind? Right.... My experience is that new boats always let you sail for the first time in less benign conditions. Little else could be expected from SaltyPaws.

One of the problems of delays, is that everything goes wrong.... Due to the late delivery of our Helia, the depth gauge and the sea-cocks for the water maker were not installed while the boat was still on the dry. For a catamaran, the solution is simple: sail onto a ramp during low tide, fix the underwater connections while the sea is in retreat, and simply sail the boat away, once the tide is up again. The parking the boat, drying out, and getting the underwater work finished was no problem, the re-floating on the other hand... Mind you, this was not the first time I have dried out with a boat. This honor goes to the 25 feet Spurt, “Tjyrp”, which we dried out many times. The trick is: always make sure your margins are in order. This time on the other hand, I did NOT do the calculations myself, and that was a mistake I ended up paying for... What this meant is that with the freshly installed depth gauge and water maker connections, we where ready to re-float our boat. What was not a problem, is that the first time I got to sail and moor the boat was in the middle of the night, in a fresh breeze. What was a problem on the other hand, was that the boat was parked quite high, in relation to the tide, and that the next tide was lower. (Not according to the tables, but mother nature cannot always be exactly predicted in a table). In addition, the fresh wind was driving us onshore.

Running both engines full in reverse, all 110 horses could not pull the boat of the hard. So we where stuck... To make matters worse the next tide was even lower. Even with our 50 m spare anchor rode set out behind us (not sure if this was even allowed in the port, as this line prevented some boats from going out) on our genacker winch could not get us off. Off course, the first time I sailed SaltyPaws had to be in the middle of the night, 4 Bf of wind, trying to re-float the boat. And third time lucky held through... After cranking up both engines to full reverse, and putting a healthy tension on the anchor rode the boat almost came off... but it didn't. And the water was at it's apex, it was not going to go any higher. Right... Preparing for one more night on the hard. And just as I though the boat would not go anywhere, the port side slid of the ramp. Starboard hull was still stuck. But nothing that 110 horses, and a mighty winch could not fix. Third time lucky came through after all, but not after keeping us in the mandatory suspense state until we be-leaved it wouldn't happen anymore.

Now all we needed to do was retrieve the anchor rode, without it getting stuck in the propeller, removing it from the jetty, sail the boat to the other side of the largest marina in Western Europe in the middle of the night and dock the boat. And scrub the deck.

I am sure many times we will take the boat out in more benign conditions. However, this episode proves my motto again... If you are not prepared to take your boat out for a spin in the middle of the night, trying to re-float from a ramp in a healthy onshore wind.... You should not be sailing AT ALL, even in the most benign conditions, because you never know what might happen.