C'est la Vie tie up to the Beaufort City Docks

C'est la Vie is resting in the water at the Beaufort Docks after five months on the hard at Burbridge & Wilson  Marine.  As with every launch day the pre-launch hours are a blur of last minute prep... a final coat of bottom paint, wax the boot stripe, polish the bow pulpit, install the dodger, heft the dinghy back on deck, et. al.
 

C'est la Vie awaiting the travel lift for launching

still awaiting the completion of the new mainsail cover and need to install head sail.

The launch went smoothly with no surprises or hiccups... Whew!  Hanging in the slinging checking thru-hull fittings and starting the engine is always nerve wracking for me.

The new engine room sound proofing works amazingly well.  Because I'm accustom to adjusting the throttle by the volume of the engine when first pulling away from the boat yard basin I ran the engine at way too high an RPM.  Once we gained the ICW, and checked the RPM gauge, I  discovered the needle up in the 3600 range.  Our typical cruising RPM is around 2400.  While approaching the Beaufort Channel Bridge we discovered another quirk of the new sound proofing.  Previously we could hear the engine transition from forward to neutral to reverse.  Now when shifting gears there is only silence. We must rely on visually checking the shift/throttle lever.  I never really thought about my past habits, but now realize the large degree to which I was relying upon engine sounds when operating C'est la Vie under power.  Learning to use more visual cues when motoring is a price we are willing to pay for the reduction in engine noise.

None of our launches are void of unwanted discoveries.  While checking the status of our rebuild dripless shaft seal, I noticed the packing gland on the rudder post is leaking.  High speed packing glands allow some water to pass to serve a lubricant for the packing, but the rudder post should operate fine without allowing water to pass.  By the looks of the brine build-up on the bronze fitting, I'm guessing the leaked has existed for some time.  Fortunately while C'est la Vie is sitting at rest the gland is above the waterline.  Hopefully I can borrow a pipe wrench and remedy the issue before departing Beaufort.

Looking into our crystal ball... we will spend Thursday completing rigging installations, boat clean up, and last minute repairs.  Friday we will move food and personal stuff back on the boat, and very early on Saturday morning we hope to slip out Beaufort Inlet and run outside to at least Masonboro Inlet.

To mark our launch and begin tracking our fall migration southward we have started a new photo album... NC to FL - fall 2012