Puffin was finally launched on Saturday. She went in much later than usual due in part to the damage sustained by Sea Travelers Marina during last March’s intense storm. About a month ago I took the shrink-wrap off and waxed the hull, and yesterday Karen and I spent a couple of hours washing the boat.
Today, with a stiff breeze blowing from the east, we headed out with our friends Jon and Elisa. The blue line shows where we went—around Floyd Bennett Field, past Dead Horse Bay, and into Gerritsen Creek where we dropped the hook for some lunch.
Waves were about 1 1/2 to 2 feet, which doesn’t sound like much but makes for a bumpy ride when going into them. It was windy but flat inside Gerritsen Creek. Jon went for a swim in the 66-degree water, but the rest of us stayed on the boat.
The trip back to the marina was pretty smooth, but it was still blowing, and I wondered how the docking would go.
It didn’t go well. I tried pulling into the slip the way I usually do, but the wind caught the stern and spun the boat. I didn’t want to bump onto the corner of the slip, so I tried reversing out and turning around. The wind wouldn’t let me turn the boat around, so I ended up reversing back past the slip for a second try. It didn’t go much better than the first, but fortunately a spectator came by and grabbed the bow. I jumped onto the dock, and the two of us were able to walk the boat into the slip.
We were not the only ones to have trouble. The boat that went in ahead of us also had to make two attempts. I’m not sure what I would have done if I’d been alone.
Other than that, it was a fine (belated) start to the boating season.
A Movable Bridge 
