Assembly and Launch

After our arrival at Bahia Honda State Park, the place we chose as an assembly and launch site due to the sufficiently wide ramp, we set up camp and started the assembly process. We have heard that it could be done in as little as 4 hours......... it took us 2 and a half days!

2 parking spots for the amazing expanding boat

Employing the Uhaul to pull them apart

Beams in place

Trampolines and center console in place

Anyway, it all went well and the raising of the mast, which we were both kind of apprehensive about, turned out to be an anticlimax. The tabernacle works great and we can even raise and lower the 35' mast on the water. (How we found that out is another story over lots of beers!)

The purpose built Seawind 24 trailer worked great for transport as well as haul, launch, and assembly of the boat. We did a lot of work on this trailer but she has done her job and it is time to sell it. I would recommend the trailer to any Seawind 24 owner.

The actual launch, which we thought would be a piece of cake was a bit more difficult. There was only 8" spare on each side and the ramp was very slippery below the water. We took the vehicle down as far as we could with most of the boat floating already but she would not come off. We think the long trip may have flattened the rollers a bit and they would not turn. We used a ratchet strap to winch the boat off and finally she was afloat.

Finally she is in the water in the Florida Keys!

The Bahia Honda State Park is really beautiful and the staff treated us really well. We even had a manatee come right up to and under the boat.

A manatee under the trampoline in Bahia Honda State Park

I tried to get more photos but he was too interested in the camera

The only drawback of the Bahia Honda Park for sailboats is that it has some very strong currents flowing by the marina exit and only a small gap in an old bridge to get out to the sea. More about that next time when we talk about our first trip........