 |
| 1. Building the ramp (72k)
|
|
 |
 |
| 2. Blessing the boat (77k)
|
|
|
 |
| 3. Lifting the boat (82k) |
|
|
 |
| 4. Floating at last (47k) |
|
|
|
We finally launched Razzle Dazzle on the 19th of September, 2002. It took over 3 years to build her, and the last months were very hectic. Due to the changing seasons, and problems with our builder, we were forced to launch the boat before she was really ready. We are now in the process of finishing all the little jobs we would have liked to do before the launch.
Razzle Dazzle was built on a beach on the north side of Panglao Island. Unfortunately, there was a sea wall between us and the ocean. We were not allowed to remove the sea wall, though we did lower it a bit. This meant that Jim had to design launching ramps to carry the boat over the wall and into the water. He didn't have any past experience with this sort of thing, so had the carpenters build it very strong (see thumbnail photo #1, at left). We also hired a priest to bless the boat before the launch (photo #2), a common practice here.
We greased the ramp, and expected that the boat would slide easily down the slope once we got it there, but we first needed to move the boat on the level to the top of the ramp. We used rollers to get the boat up to the ramp. It took many people pushing to finally move the boat those first few meters.
Once the boat reached the start of the ramp, it had to be pushed into alignment. This was not so easy, and required a bit of heavy persuasion. Jim used an anchor line attached to one of our anchors buried in the sand to prevent the boat from traveling too fast down the ramp. Then, with one final push, we were on our way. The boat slid down the ramp easily and we were in the water.
Razzle Dazzle was afloat for the first time at 0915 (photo #4), a few minutes after high tide. We stayed at MoMo beach for the low tide that afternoon, and were able to walk out to the boat with our things. We loaded water, fuel, clothing, food, etc. We did not get everything loaded and the boat is already too heavy. Oh well, some retrenching will be in order. The next day, we motored to Tagbilaran harbor and the beginning of the rest of our adventure.
— return to the Tiki 38 page
— return to the 2002 Journal Archive
|
