Launching Celeste

Friday marked a momentous occasion as our boat took to the water after 2.5 years of being dry-docked!

She's our little tugboat... a beauty on the water, isn't she?!

These two gentlemen have been working on the boat for the last little while. The one to the rear is a former helicopter pilot. He's our technician...hooking up or fixing up some of the electrical items. The skipper, well he is a mechanic, welder, avid fisherman and a good friend to Ian. And here's the deal: they are fixing up the boat in exchange for some time on the open sea and hopefully reeling in some marlin!

Here's my dad, taking the helm. The reason he is so relaxed is because the boat is travelling only about 6 knots an hour. That's not much for a 135 horsepower engine, but maybe understandable since it's not been used for years. Hopefully that will be sorted out by the crew. They didn't mind a slow but steady journey along the coastline of the beautiful Huon Gulf anyway.

One of the beaches where they threw down the anchor and enjoyed a nice swim. My dad was worried about the sharks...but thankfully nothing nipped his toes.

The kids and I met up with them in the afternoon and took a little tour just outside the yacht club. The wind had picked up by that time and it was a little choppy, so the little tour was enough for me and the kids! But still the ocean breeze felt good.

It was good and refreshing for Ian and the rest to be away from Lae for a few hours and out enjoying God's awesome creation in the vast skies and open sea. Rejuvenating.