The Northland has gone through a lot since the end of the fishing season last summer.  She was stripped down to nearly nothing (even the stringers were replaced) and then painstakingly rebuilt into a fresh, new and improved version of her former self.  Emily is glad that the hull was not painted and still shows her age of 40+, but Kyle partly wants to make her completely new and shiny. The launch went well- the engine runs well and we barely took on any water.  Now that all of the rotten wood is out and thanks to Kyle's crafty plywood and foam core construction, she now sits three inches higher in the water! Thanks to these improvements combined with the increase in horse power, the Northland's maximum speed has increased from about 7 knots to about 13 knots.  This is great considering we're a semi-displacement hull (non-planing).  We're hoping we won't be the last boat back to the river this season. We did have a little excitement when smoke started coming out of the mid-ship fish hold.  An overly tightened stuffing box (where the shaft exits the boat) was the culprit.  We had to make our return to the harbor with Emily constantly pouring water on it to keep it cool. Overall we're super excited to be in the water and working out the bugs of a 'new' boat.  We still hope to fish on Monday!