Thread: Off Topic - Launching Kayak!

What you SAY at launching matters less than what you DO -- one solid snootful of the best rum you can get your hands on goes into the water with the boat. No cheap stuff! One must show proper respect to the gods and goddesses of wind and water. They have long memories.

How about some John Steinbeck?

"A man builds the best of himself into a boat —builds many of the unconscious memories of his ancestors. Once, passing the boat department of Macy's in New York, where there are duck-boats and skiffs and little cruisers, one of the authors discovered that as he passed each hull he knocked on it sharply with his knuckles. He wondered why he did it, and as wondered, he heard a knocking behind him, and another man was rapping the hulls with his knuckles, the same tempo —three sharp knocks on each hull. During an hour's observation there, no man or boy, and few women, passed who did not do the same thing. Can this have been unconscious testing of the hulls? Many who passed could not have been in a boat, perhaps some of the little boys had never seen a boat, and yet everyone tested the hulls, knocked to see if they were sound, and did not even know he was doing it.

I like it! Thank you!

It is from Steinbeck's Log of the Sea of Cortez. A friend of mine, Robert Ayliffe, often uses it for boat launchings.

The original is quite a bit longer with more ideas.

Watching the above happen makes Steinbeck think .. what about other large wooden things ... so he goes to the Piano department. Nobody goes Knock Knock Knock ... they touch the piano and rub the finish.

Then he checks furniture. He realises there is a different action with the boats only. This Knock, Knock, Knock "as if their lives depended on it".

A lovely passage!

And remember you only need to pour a few drops of wine or beer or champagne on the bow of the boat. With multihulls you put a few drops of Champers on the starboard bow and a few drops of Port on the Port (left) bow! But you don't need to worry about that here!

Michael

Originally Posted by Boatmik

...And remember you only need to pour a few drops of wine or beer or champagne on the bow of the boat....

The water gods in Oz must be different from those in New England. Around here, the Old Man Of The Sea likes a healthy shot. And not on the boat, but right into the water. A nod and a splash before the hull hits the water, just to show respect.

If you sea gods are so nationalistic ... you had better listen real carful to Paulie!

Maybe that is why the Tasman Sea is so scary. We do the wrong thing with our launchings and the bad mood happens as the sea and wind moves East?

hehe
MIK

A snort for both the boat and sea is the tradition here in the south. Sort of a belt and suspenders approach I suspect. On small craft like this, a simple prayer and token appeasement, with the beverage of choice is typical, while marching bands playing the Star Spangled Banner, on larger projects isn't uncommon. Personally, I've been to many launchings, some fancy and a couple I had to get into era costume which truly itched, but I was an admiral for an afternoon.

The best ones I've seen, played more to the powers that really be, then the imaginary ones. Congratulations Danielle, enjoy your day, it's a moment you cherish for the rest of your life. Of course, it's also the sobering thought that this affliction has a solid grasp on you and you're forever destined to slave over some boat project. Way to go girl . . .

Well? Sunday afternoon has come and gone. We want to see pictures!

I hope the event went well. When you've put as much of yourself into something as you do when building a boat, seeing it finally hit the water is an amazing thing.

How about these? My mom just shot video of me paddling, so I will have to add a shot of me later. I am the one standing behind the boat with my dad )

Gorgeous! Stunning job! You should feel proud. Very well done.

Enjoy using it!

(Your shirt says OK, but that looks like FL to me.)

Florida is right. Danielle got some help from our friend and forum contributor Paul Ricelli (PAR) who is also in Florida.

And the boat, dad and co-builder look very happy!

Congratulations Danielle!

Michael

Thanks all! And I will post some video of my 30 second speech and the launching. Mik - it took all I could do to avoid a shout out to you during my speech, but I figured I will send the video to CLC and thought that might avoid it getting shown ) I am looking forward to finishing my Eureka, and who knows, maybe a GIS after )

Originally Posted by paulie

(Your shirt says OK, but that looks like FL to me.)

I live in Florida but my heart is still a Sooner! In fact, the Eureka is going to be called Boomer Sooner and I have even ordered OU fabric with the intention of using it on the HULL from about the bulkheads forward (or aft, but there are really two of each )

Danielle

Wow Daniella. Congratulations on a really great build. That's a nice looking kayak and I think "Thanks Dad" is a really fitting name. I bet you're both proud.

Kev.