Thursday, November 5, 2009

Tense times--my first haul out!

Today was built to be insane! Work, class, lunch, haul out, climbing, dinner, red-eye to the east coast... Wait, haul out? You read that right! Since we're heading out of town for a long weekend we decided there was no better time to get the bottom paint, zincs, and some detailing attended to. Easy, right? Sure, only I am wicked nervous since I've never done this before, I saw a boat slip out of the slings once, and, oh yeah, this is my house! And just for fun, the forecast was for rain and 20-25kt winds. YIKES!

After pounding way more Taco Bell than any human really needs, Frank and I got the boat prepped with plenty of time to spare. Then we waited. And the wind sounded ferocious. And I felt like I was going to throw up (from nerves, not lunch!). Finally we saw the Travelift in position so we headed up to chat to the guys. They told us to just back her in. Ok. Sure. Back her in. Our original slip in this marina had been so painful because we had to back the boat in and she has crazy prop walk. Did I mention the wind?

In the end, Frank backed it all the way from our slip to the lift so she had some good way on. We made it over there fine and the lift operators were able to manhandle the lines and get her in the slings. The wind pushed us around a little, but the rain had stopped just long enough and the whole deal was honestly pretty painless. Kind of fun, actually! It was so weird seeing our home out of the water. She looks good, though! Definitely needs bottom paint and there is some fishing line around the prop, but the zincs looked pretty good as did all the through-hulls. Finally, I can breathe. Heck, I'm so chill now I'm treating myself to a mani/pedi!

In the slings and getting a bath.

On the move through the parking lot at the marina.

Next adventure--overnight flights en route to South Carolina!

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