As the FedEx Freight truck rumbled its way into Canal Boatyard yesterday, I was high atop a ladder swirling wax into Yahtzee’s gel coat. When I turned and saw it, I nearly fell down the rungs in excitement. And I was so giddy that my signature was unrecognizable on the receiving papers.

Watching our sweet new baby being lifted from the truck and then unwrapped this morning for its first meeting with its new (to it) boat, I couldn’t actually believe it was happening. I still can’t. After a three week wait, Yahtzee’s new rudder is a thing of beauty, and allows us to finally see the light at the end of a very long, sometimes scarily dark tunnel. We’re closer to being home than we have been in a long long time. And it feels great.

That said, there is still work to be done and a holiday to contend with. But as far as timelines go — which are never good for a boat in a boatyard — we’ll all be back in the water again fairly soon.

Stay tuned, folks, we’re getting there…