After surveys, insurance claims (all denied), finding a rigger, ordering the mast, and waiting a LONG time for it to get fabricated, work began on the boat in mid-July. Of course we moved it to the yard only to have a week of horrible storms and heat to slow us down.
By late July, I was going up to the boat every day. Not only was I checking to see what progress the rigger was making on getting the new mast ready, I was also waiting for the yard to prep the boat for bottom paint and trying to clean/wax what I could while I stood around. Finally the weather started to cooperate and I was able to get two coats of bottom paint, Prop Speed, new anodes, and our R.E. Thomas Marine Piranha dual line cutter on.
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| She loves a fresh bottom! |
And I waited. And waited. I've realized that we are very lucky that there are many boat jobs that we can do ourselves, on our own schedule. What I've learned from this mast/rigging job is that we need to be better about understanding tradesman timelines and demanding proactive communication when things slide (as they will) without us having to hunt for updates. We entered into this work with what we thought were good references, but after the fact I'm wondering how old some of the references for our chosen tradesman were.
On a hot morning in early August we finally launched and the mast went on. The rigger wasn't able to finish his work, but the mast was secure and we needed to move the boat out of the yard's marina. Frank and I took the boat into the AICW the next day and made our way through the Great Bridge Lock and Bridge before making a stop for weather and schedules. The next week, we were able to do one very long day to bring her home to Lamb's Marina in Elizabeth City, NC. We may have had less then 6" under the keel on our way in, but she's HOME!
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| More than a year after the crack was discovered we have a new mast! |
The rigger has work to do, we have a leak to chase down, and I need to scrub the boatyard grime off of her, but Lehe Paine is finally fixed and home.
