BEOWULF went into the water yesterday mid-day, with shiny topsides and new bottom paint. It really feels good to be finally afloat! We spent yesterday afternoon and this morning checking systems. Everything lit up OK, which is amazing considering BEOWULF has been on the hard for five months.

The only problem was the Strong shaft seal on the Hundested prop shaft. It was leaking like a sieve. This could have been a real problem except for the fact that we put two spare seals on the shaft six years ago. Removing the circlip which held the leaky shaft in place was a real battle. It was huge and we did not have a pair of snap ring pliers that would fit. In the end, between a hacksaw, file, and grinder, with two small bolts, we modified one of the existing tools, and were able to extract the circlip. From there is was easy, pull out the old seal, cut if off, polish the shaft, and push back in one of the new seals.

Getting the jib bent onto the roller furler looked to be a real battle, as the breeze was in the high teens, low 20s. However, we were able to find a lee alongside Virgin Gorda and hoisted without difficulty.

We’ve been going back and forth about where to head. Europe, the East Coast, or California. We crossed Europe off the list because we do not want to be gone from family for seven months – that is too long to be gone for us when we get right down to facing the separation. We’ve done the East Coast the last two summers, and while it has many interesting places to visit, the sailing…well, isn’t up to what we like to see.

Which brings us to the Easterly trades currently blowing. If they hold, that puts the wind on our quarter – 14 to 16 knots, Mr. NOAA says. If it holds, we’ll have a great sail; dry, fast, and comfortable towards Panama. That’s hard to resist. So it looks like we’ll be rocking and rolling at exotic Catalina (hey, they do have palm trees) this summer.

The only potential issue is an early tropical storm. We should be in Panama Monday or Tuesday. We’re hopeful of getting through and on our way in three days, which puts us in early June for departure. If this is going to be an active hurricane season in the Eastern Pacific, we’d prefer to leave mid-May. We’ll check out what it looks like when we get to Balboa. There’s about 1000 miles we need to cover before we’re out of the area where early storms typically form. Cross that bridge when we get to it.

The office will be closed this weekend, so we’ll have updates early next week on SetSail.com.