Untied from the Dock!

Leaving our dock behind

At last!!  Elixir is once again capable of getting underway!   It has been 6 long months since she was untied from the dock and underway under her own power, but this last weekend she did just that.  After being beat up crossing Lake Okeechobee last spring, I vowed I would change Elixir over to hydraulic steering before we went on another long trip.  So this winter, we did just that.  It took longer than expected and so we have been unable to go anywhere for 6 months.  I'm pretty sure that's only a few days short of an eternity!  We finally got the system up and running and took her out for a test spin.

Elixir goes surfing?

We were only out for about a half an hour, just long enough to make sure the steering worked, but it was great to be back on the water!  And not a moment too soon.  Our next cruise begins in less than 2 weeks!

Before we could pull out, we had to solve a problem we created when we moved the dinghy to the swim platform.  The dinghy covered up the boat's name and hailing port, which is required by Coast Guard regulations.  Our answer - a body surfing board with stick on letters spelling out the name.  Surfing anyone?