- Jun 3, 2018

5-2 DTG – Finally on water

YES! The day did come. The day when it was time to roll out S/Y Johanna from the shipyard and launch her into her element. The 27-year-old boat my kids were more or less born in, and definitely grew up in, has been renovated and pimped into a new one. Ready for them to take over. She has been turned into an electric sailor, she has been prepared to meet their new times and she is ready to be used as a vessel for an important message about how to live a smarter life on water...

Okay, enough of the philosophical symbolics. Launching days are about reality "here and now" and for me, this day and the next to come were full of real challenges, to say the least...

Rolled out into the bright sunny daylight and lifted on the truck by experienced people. So far so good.

The shipyard team Göran, Niclas and Björn. Proud, happy, and exhausted... not much sleep last night, but almost everything managed to get fixed:-)

Okay, Mister Pod Drive, there are a lot of expectations on your shoulders. Not only are you expected to push the boat safely through the water, but you are also expected to charge our batteries, be silent when working, start whenever we need you, and fold together when racing against other sailors...

This is not the old engine, but it was on display in a boat shop where we launched and I could not resist taking a picture...my, my, my, what a complicated beast. I must admit that I am glad I decided to go electric.

The moment. Strömstad, May 31st, 14.45. No words are needed...

You are looking at the second challenge. The first one was to find someone that could help us lift the mast into the boat. In my entire life, I have lived in cities with a marina with a fixed mast crane for the job. You just go there and manually swing it up and into your boat. Done. But not in Strömstad. We had chosen a "launch city" with no mast crane. After some cheezy efforts, we managed to talk to the very stressed but extremely kind marina staff to squeeze us in and help us with their truck (Thank you all!)

So, what about the second challenge? Check the video below...

Well past midnight, when silence is called upon by any marina guest rules, we fixed a little with the mast foot...hm: A simple mistake at the shipyard made the head foil profile seem too long. Our partner Benns took immediate action and called for our new super-hero – Rickard from Svanbergs Rigging Service – to drive for two hours in the middle of the night, get into the boat, and fix the trouble without even lifting the mast. A simple mistake by the shipyard was identified as the reason – the mast foot had been installed 180 degrees in the opposite direction. 60-70 mm adjustment down at the foot made everything right at the top. Rickard is the best rigg-doctor around: riggservice@gmail.com We bow for you Rickard. Thank you!