THE GOOSE GETS LAUNCHED
FINALLY, THE GOOSE IS ON THE LOOSE.
On June 2, after a six-month refit, Onne and Tenley van der Wal’s 1986 Grand Banks 32, Snow Goose, slid down the railway at Clark Boat Yard & Marine Works in Jamestown, Rhode Island, and into the water.
“It was awesome,” Onne says about the launch. “It’s nice to get the boat in the water and rinse the dust off. When you put her in, it’s kind of a scary moment, but also a big moment. You hope you did everything right when you fire up the engine for the first time and put it in gear.”
Before the launch, Onne had only run the six-cylinder, naturally aspirated, 135-hp Ford Lehman engine on the hard with a garden hose and a cooler. After purchasing the boat in fall 2020, he didn’t do anything to the engine other than winterize it. With the boat going in the water, he made sure the seacock was open and that the cooling water was coming out.
Over the winter, Onne had
