Willie, Donnie and myself were the brave crew (there was supposed to be a 4th crew member who will remain nameless that was scheduled to help us but forgot to get out of bed) to do the work.
Launching the J24 is a little bit nerve racking. We have to first move the trailer to the crane- not easy with only three of us and then lift the J24 above our heads and off the trailer. This is where things get a little scary. Scary because the boat could drop off the crane and fall on us, not too mention the damage that would be done to the boat. As the J24 is quite a bit heavier than the J22 a fourth person is vital to safely move the boat from above the dock to the water. So we pushed, we shoved, we roared and we screamed and we even cursed... we even resorted to willing the boat to move into the water (you can imagine what was being said about the fourth crew member that did not turn up to help us).
Eventually...
we managed to get the crane turned and the boat into the
water. Here you see Willie and Donnie very relieved and getting to rigging the main sail for the sail down to Belmont.
Once the boat was safely in the water we rigged her up and Donnie and Willie sailed her to Belmont. Usually we would sail the boat single handed but as the water is so cold at this time of the year we only allow two or more sailors. This is in case of a man overboard situation, with the water at only 38 degrees a person in the water does not have long to survive.
Soon they were off, main only as it was quite windy (i think it was just because they were too lazy and cold to hoist the jib) and before long they arrived at Belmont.One more boat launched, one less headache to deal with... and on we go.
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