April 19: In the water!

This must be the earliest we have ever had a boat put in the water. I think the folks at Portland Riverside cut us some slack this year considering how late we got in last year.

We learned on Monday that Act Three would go into the water on Wednesday, April 18. We always like to be there when they launch our boat so we showed up on Wednesday only to learn that there had been a problem with moving boats around and we wouldn't get in until today. Knowing that and the "flexible" schedule that Portland Riverside usually has, we didn't show up today until about 1:00 PM.  When we did, the first thing we saw was our boat being towed out of the shed. Once out, the guys posed for a picture.

 

Since the TravelLift won't 't fit in the shed, they have to use a hydraulic trailer to get the boat outside.  Then, they position the lift over the boat and slowly pick it up.

Then they drive the trailer out from under the boat and it's off to the river on the TravelLife slings.

Once in the water, the crew tows the boat to an open slip. The outboard on the tow boat was acting up for some reason but they got us into a slip without a problem. These guys have probably done this a thousand times.

Once tied up, we decided to start the engines. We had brought a small amount of gas with us to prime the new carbs and fuel lines. It took a couple of tablespoons of gas, but they both fired right up. But, nothing goes right the first time. The fittings that adapt 5/8" ID fuel hose to carb inlets leaked gas on both engines. We shut them down and will now have to find better fittings. Why should connecting common 5/8" fuel line to a new carb be so difficult?

Anyway, we are in the water and as soon as we get this latest problem under control, we're saying good bye to Portland.