Launching our new boat! S1 Ep18

We FINALLY got the boat launched! We were not able to store the boat at the same marina that we slip at over the winter due to the hours that are boat was available to us. The marina we slip at is only accessible from 8am to 4:30pm and they are not open over the weekends for most of the winter. Because we both work full time in addition to working on the boat this can make things very difficult. We opted to keep the boat at a marina that was but a few nautical miles away and on the other side of Lake Macatawa.

This did pose a problem when our motor did not show up when originally scheduled. Because of the distance to travel, size and weight of our boat, it was not as easy as having the marina tow us from the well to the slip. Fortunately, Phillip and I have been blessed with some amazing friends and coworkers!

When we launched the boat in the end of April, we had some cool and rainy weather. However, the first week of May was a DOOZY! We had daytime temps in the high 40 degrees and nighttime temps in the mid 30s. It. Was. Cold. Most nights we slept wearing extra layers, with both our wool and down blankets and with our space heater cranked. Most mornings the space heater was reading temps inside the boat at 50 degrees. But one morning it was only 46!

Not only did we have cold, wet weather, we also had high winds and heavy wave action out on Lake Michigan. The waves were consistantly above 6 foot and peaked multiple times in the 10 foot range! This marina is well known for having issues with the swells and storm surges since it is so close to the channel that connects Lake Michigan and Lake Macatawa. Other than the channel itself, there is no additional protection. It definitely made for some rough days and sleepless nights.