Day One

Ha!  Gather around and observe this one moment of joy that way too much money, way too much effort, and many nervous moments of what-the-hell-are-we-doing introspection have bought us.

Today we christened our boat.

We launched early on a rainy morning.  The yard guys kindly let the family wait in the workshop while the travelift was doing its thing.  By the way, we hauled at Svendsen's, which was also the scene for out last haulout for Pelagic before crossing the Pacific.  We generally cannot say enough kind things about that yard.

Galactic leaving the hard.  That's one long drink of water!

Alisa letting the champagne fly, and making the name official in a way that no Coast Guard paperwork could.

The crew on our maiden voyage, from yard to marina, about a half mile down the much-abused waterway that separates Alameda from Oakland.  Left to right: Cabin Boy Second Class Eric Litzow, Cabin Boy First Class Elias Litzow.

And so that's us.  By naming the boat, we of course also named ourselves.  Wonderful sailing friends whom we haven't yet met will soon, if everything goes to plan, be referring to us collectively as "Galactic".  I could explain our choice of the name, but I think that would belabor what is essentially the process of us amusing ourselves...

And now, back to the job list!  We have six weeks until we want to be leaving San Francisco, and a heap of boat prep, one book re-write, and a round of family visits to accomplish in that time.