Prologue

A day that starts with  a shit-load of work. Untangling the mess that halyards and stays form after a winter in storage. Replacing two 40 meter halyards in the mast and connecting the mast-top accessoires.

Then there is the nervous moment of lifting the 18 meter long pole and lowering it through the deck to step it onto the keel below.

A job with plenty of opportunity to do damage to mast, deck and the boat's interior. A job that requires at least 5 persons too. One to operate the crane, two to aim the mast and one below deck to step the mast. Preferrably a fifth person oversees the procedure instructing the others.

Finally it's time to go...

Negotiating the first locks is a bit tense. Certainly when a barge suddenly decides that small vessels should go first; which is more comfortable than fighting its wake, but created some confusion. And then there's the bridge, that doesn't fully open, its deck suspended over our half of the fairway.

But by the end of the day, the pictures look less tense. Time to tie up, relax and have a beer.