Launching Our Catamaran For The First Time

Today is our soft lunch, which is like a dress rehearsal. To make sure she floats, and everything is working smoothly before final touches and test sailing begin. And like most things with boats, nothing goes exactly to plan and there is never a dull moment.

Nikki Wynn

Dec 10, 2023 — 2 min read

Splash day is always exciting. It doesn’t matter if it’s simply splashing a boat after light maintenance work or a full-blown intensive refit. There’s always some risk and a little anxiety about all the ways it could go wrong.

And today is our soft launch day. A.K.A, our new catamaran CURIOSITY is going in the water for the very first time! It’s like watching a baby being born! Well, sort of.

A soft lunch is more like a dress rehearsal. It’s the first splash to make sure she floats, and everything is working smoothly before final touches and test sailing begin. It’s still a big event.

So, we made our way back to the HH Catamarans factory for the big day. And like most things with boats, nothing goes exactly to plan and there is never a dull moment.

Unfortunately, there was a bit of an issue with our rigging and the mast couldn’t go on. These things do occasionally happen (wrong part or wrong size gets shipped out) and everyone has to hustle to remedy the issue. It’s not terribly surprising considering we are the first HH44 Ocean Cruising Catamaran. Hull #1 and #2 were both the Sport Cruising versions that have a different mast and rigging (we’ll get into those details when the mast goes on).

Unsurprising or not, it was a sting to learn of yet another delay. Especially when emotionally, we feel like a couple of stray dogs, staring into the window of a bacon factory. So close, and yet soooo far away.

First world problems at best and to quote Vanilla Sky, “the sweet isn’t as sweet without the sour”. There’s far more sweetness ahead and speaking of sweet…CURIOSITY looks delightfully delicious floating in the water.