Back on Laughter - preparing for a new adventure

May 4, 2018

It has been 17 months since we have been to the boat. Laughter was put up on the hard  at Deltaville Yachting Center in Oct. of 2016 because Tom was scheduled for back surgery in December. We emptied her out, winterized her and headed for home. After such a long period of time we began to wonder if we should return or just put her up for sale. I wondered if Tom would have the flexibility to handle the boat after witnessing first hand his long recovery.
But we both really wanted to finish these last two legs of our journey. The Down East Loop this summer then through the great lakes and back to where we started in Lake Michigan next summer.
Laughter was in better shape than we had imagined she would be when we arrived, It took us three weeks of hard work to clean and restock her. We started talking with boaters who passed through and that's all it took. The boating bug returned!  Our splash date was May 30th and we were excited and nervous.  Gently placed in the water Tom was given the word to start her up. I was on the dock holding my breath and crossing my fingers. It seemed like forever but then there it was. Baroooooom, the wonderful sound of diesel engines firing up. She was running. As I let out a Whoo Hoo, I heard the same from inside the boat.
 Getting into a fifteen foot slip with a beam of 14.3 in strong current was going to be a challenge. Tom had not driven in almost two years and standing on the dock with Peanut I was concerned. I paced with nervous energy as Laughter passed the boats on the long dock. As they came into view I let out a sigh of relief and a smile.Tom was holding a boat hook on deck and the mechanic was driving. As they turned the corner I expressed concern to the dock hand. There is no way she is going to fit. Well, she did with an inch on each side to spare! Check out my face book page for the video as it would not post on here.
It felt so good to be on the water. The wind, the sloshing under the bow as boats came by and that oh so slight rocking motion. Sleeping tonight would be wonderful!

  We lived in our RV for almost a month as we scrubbed, resupplied and readied Laughter to go back in the water

                                                   Tom scraping and painting the bottom

                 A bird decided to build her nest in our exhaust pipe and as you can see below she was
                 not very happy.

                       The day she went in the water was exciting and worrisome. Would she start?

                     To hear those engines and see her moving along to the slip was a happy happy day!