Splash Date!

This is a term of art--meaning the day your boat goes into the water. I love this term--it's so darn cute! And all these oil crusted men with varnish and paint covered pants, and sunburns on the backs of their necks who work in boat yard actually say this without any squirming or anything.

"What's your splash date?"
"Call me in the office to arrange your splash date."
"If you need to do a lot of work in the spring, you're going to have a late splash date."
"I don't want to have any splash dates after June 1."

Well, that last one was too bad, as Lady Cliff had a lot of work done to her hull and framing this spring, which finally got closed up this week, and today, she went into the water! It's an amazing thing, to see the mobile lift placed around her, straps run underneath (with cushioning cardboard, so as not to mar the paint!), and then the lift drives across the boatyard to the elevated track over the water, where she is lowered v-e-r-y c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y into the water. A work boat pushed her into her new slip, and a literal swarm of boatmen crawled all over her, checking for leaks, and bilge pumping and god knows all what else.

Tonight, Mr. Sweetie, Bunny and I had dinner in the saloon, and those of us over 21 toasted the launch with champagne.

FYI--getting tipsy on champagne happens even faster when the floor underneath you actually rocks back and forth! Use this information responsibly.