Opening weekend 2017

With the knowledge that Seas The Day was in the water, we started scrambling to get all of our "boat crap" together and ready for the trek to Keyport.  It made quite a pile in the kitchen... bedding, first aid and seasickness kits, towels, toiletries, boat cleaning stuff, a small amount of food, a large amount of water, etc.  We loaded it all up and hit the turnpike.

Once at Keyport Yacht Club, we caught the launch and headed out to Seas The Day.  The skies looked ominous, but the weather held... low wind, no rain and so we began the process of stowing it all...

As we finished stowing items, we then began the work on cleaning everything.  Some of us had worse jobs than others...

While Vicky got the head and galley up to her standards, I focused on double-checking the engine, topping off the batteries and checking out the rigging.  

After a couple hours of work, it was finally time for the first sailing trip of the season.  It was a rush to feel the wind on our faces and see the sails out.  The weather was perfect... 7 knots of wind was a little light, but made for a nice pleasant beam reach.

We tested Otto's steering capability (he still seems to be doing well).

After a bit, we doused the sails and used the diesel on the way back to charge the batteries.

On the way back to Keyport, Vicky started working on the brightwork.

Once back at out new mooring, we celebrated with a sushi and sunset dinner!

We didn't feel like packing formal clothing, so we skipped the formal Opening Day ceremonies at KYC, but I did happen to capture it while photographing after dinner.

I photographed the sunset (as well as a couple of my friend's boats).

After a good night's sleep, I awoke to a dense fog that rolled in early in the morning and stayed around for a few hours.  I also discovered that I had no coffee on board.  I thought seriously about issuing a Mayday call for that, but figured the USCG might not consider that as much of an emergency as I did.

I don't have more photos, but Vicky spent some time Sunday cleaning the boat and we went to the dock for water.  While there we conducted some business with new friends and later had lunch with John at the new JakeaBob's facility in Union Beach.

Later we met up with the Millers at KYC before continuing back to Delaware.  Bad weather was predicted for overnight and Memorial Day, so we made the trek back.