Capt. JG wrote:
Here's a synopsis of Excalibur's maiden voyage from the yard in SF to her
new home...

The maiden voyage was interesting... single-handed her from SF South Beach
Harbor to Richmond. Engine started fine at the dock, so I raised sails and
headed up toward the Bay Bridge. Near the bridge, the wind died, so I go to
start the engine... nada... not even cranking, nothing. After some
preliminary checks, like do I have juice, fuel, I called the yard where she
had some engine work done (tune up, oil change, and the like). Oh, it's not
our fault, maybe you're out of gas (no), maybe you don't have her in neutral
(no neutral safety switch on this boat - something to think about adding).
Come back, and we'll look into it... of course, it's a good hour or so in
such light winds, and guess what they close in 1/2 hour.

Frustrated, I called the former owner, who couldn't think of any reason this
would happen. Never happened to him in 10 years. Must be a disconnected
wire, but he's busy at work, and the manual is in my car (note for later,
put manual on boat). Called the yard back... they said, oh, maybe we forgot
to tighten the wire to the starter solenoid. Unfortunately, I have no idea
where this wire is. Fortunately, not much vessel traffic where I'm floating,
so I heave-to to a starboard tack (give myself at least some status), open
up the engine compartment, and I go upside down inside the engine, one hand
on a cell phone dying battery, flashlight in my mouth, trying to listen/talk
to the yard so their "mechanic" can direct me, the other hand trying to
reach the stupid wire. Finally, found it, tightened it, and then she started
no problem. Oh yeah, and they didn't reconnect the low-oil and temp alarms
either.

Got past the bridge, the wind picked up, so killed the engine and started
sailing again. Got about 20 kts steady wind the rest of the way, mostly port
tack. Finally had to jibe to avoid a tug/barge coming out of the Richmond
area, and the rest was easy, even did a passable job flaking the main before
I got to the dock.

Did you really think that a maiden voyage was going to be uneventful?
How naive, Jon. G;ad you made it to harbor safely.