2014 Launch and shakedown!

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In the last week of April, the high hot sun and warmer weather made astonishingly quick work of the thick Lake Minnetonka ice. So on May 3, we were ready to launch! First we head out to the shed to collect BlueJ, where she has been sleeping since last December. Wakey wakey...


Last fall, because it was so cold, I decided to wait to clean off the scum line near the boot stripe.  A little muriatic acid, diluted to about 15:1, and it dissolves right off. Check the ties and straps, and we are ready for the 80 mile tow to Wayzata where the crew is waiting.


Launching was uneventful, but raising the mast was troublesome because of the very high water level this . BlueJ's mast is so tall that even when grabbed just below the spreaders, the strop needed to be ABOVE the top of the crane to pull the mast vertical. Happily others came over to help slide the boat forward to allow the pinning of the base, and then back to pull the mast up. Sorted! Quickly the boom came on, then vang and assorted rigging. She sat pretty in her slip as we made a grilled lunch at the club before heading out for a shakedown sail.



After lunch, Chris and Dan had to leave to meet other obligations, so we headed out for a quick sail before the nice breeze faded.


We got back as the sun started to fade. Great launch, nice lunch, good sail, and nothing lost or broken! Welcome 2014!


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