Meridian Sees the Sun . . . and Starts to Shine

The day finally arrived! No, not that day. We haven't left for the North Channel yet.

But last week, after a long cold winter that never seemed to end, we finally removed the shrink wrap from Meridian. Here's a photo of Meridian happily basking in the sun at Canal Street Marina and Yacht Yard.


If you've been a long-time reader of our blog, you may recognize the structure in the right of the photograph. That's part of the infamous South Branch Amtrak Bridge. We've had a number of encounters with her, the "best" one being this one, where we waited well over an hour for it to raise - only to learn our radio wasn't working. Another time last year as we were putting Meridian away for the winter, upon reaching the bridge we were informed by the bridge tender that it was broken. We had to turn around, go back to our slip, then return five hours later.

We've had such trouble with that one bridge that we thought it would be a good idea to store Meridian within sight of it. Hopefully, they became friends over the winter and the bridge will cooperate more readily with us in the future!

Today we washed Meridian and put a coat of wax on her starboard side. Weather permitting, we'll finish the wax job over the next several days. Then it's on to the bottom paint and, finally, launch.

Why will it take several days to put a coat of wax on her?

Well, here's one of those little secrets that boat owners don't tend to share, preferring that the rest of the world look on enviously as they live a life of glamor and luxury. Every spring, when it's time to polish and wax the boat, she magically GROWS! And not just a little bit. This year I think she made it up to 60 feet. Once all the work is done, though, she'll shrink right back down to her former size.

But now that we're finally preparing Meridian for launch, we're starting to get excited about leaving. The days are moving quickly now and it won't be long . . .