Update on launch

Hello from latitude 38 degrees 36.154 minutes north, longitude 121 degrees32.361 minutes west, Or... that the hint for the geocache saying Rikki rests north of Crawdad'sis in error? The section I am on runs west/east, which is why we all haveshade in the afternoon, so we are actually west of Crawdad's. (As far as I'mconcerned, the river runs to San Francisco Bay and that's all I care about.) Lots of commissioning left to do- mom and dad are hard at it. The nights onthe river are very peaceful and quiet so they are getting some rest. They goto the house every day to do more work there- the barn looks like a tornadotore through! And, wow, the grass is long, the yard dry- at least that'swhat they tell me. I am getting anxious to get going to the Bay. I hear the sailing is greatthere. I thought I was on my way (see photo) but here I am just bobbing inthe wakes of water skiers and sea-doos on the river. Clark and Nina assure me that I'll be getting sails soon and then I'll beready to fly. Did anyone get some cool photos of me last weekend and Monday that they canshare? Signed, s/v Rikki-tikki-tavi Marples CC40 Trimaran USCG No. 1155217

He is wet!

Dear RTT Stalwart Supporters, ... as Rikki slipped into the water a hush came over the stalwart onlookers,who had waited hours just for this moment. Everyone held a collective breathas his hulls slipped off the trailer into the green water of the river. Wasthe hush because Rikki-tikki had taken such a long time to get to thismoment, or was it because everyone was stunned into silence as hiswaterlines disappeared underwater?? That is the question. The answer is: Looks like we need more CopperPoxy!! Rest assured Rikki-tikki is fine and is floating where he should. Theintrepid builder, who having learned the hard lesson of "measure twice, cutonce" and "always double check everything three times", painted the lineusing the wrong reference point, which he should have double checked butdidn't - he took the waterline placement right off the line drawings insteadadding the required six more inches! The underwing-to-water clearance is right where it's supposed to be. Thistime I double checked. Besides embarassing myself sorely, I'm sorry if thiscaused you all such concern and perhaps made RTT's big event a little lessjovial at the moment of the splashdown. All is well with Rikki-tikki-tavi. Nina and I deeply appreciate your show ofsupport by being there with us. We hope to share more adventures with youall (hopefully less embarassing ones but we will be new trimariners so keepyour eyes open!). Rikki-tikki is resting quietly at this location, which is the first geocacheof our new life together: lat 38š 36.154"long 121š 32.361 (Hint: It is on the Sacramento River north of Crawdad's.) We have spent two nights on RTT and are extremely pleased with him. We havea mobile phone that we will plug in while at the dock, so if you want to gohunt for a geocache, please call to see if we are ready for visitors. We are real boat people now. Thanks again, Clark and Nina