Haul Out

Summary:
Boat out, clean, chip, scrub, sand, paint, repeat, boat in.

Details:
The haul out went very smoothly.  We even had some relatively rain-free days to get the work done.

The bottom of the boat was a real mess when it came out.  The prop was so choked with barnacles that we were not sure we were going to get the boat into the travel lift at all - put boat in gear, gun the engine and wait till it slowly starts to head in the general direction it is pointed.  Reverse was a complete waste of time - might as well just let the boat drift in random directions and hope it ends up where you want it.  In spite of that, we made it in one piece.

Lots of spectators at the pub next door admiring the salad hanging from the keel.

Then to work, scrubbing and sanding the bottom before applying two coats of anti-fouling paint.  This is a first for us as we have only ever used one coat before - hoping this will mean it will last a bit longer this time.

When done, it didn't look half bad.  Bottom paint can hide a world of evils.

Even the prop looked good after a day's TLC.

Then back in the water and an easy trip back to our slip.  Such a difference when the boat responds to the wheel and throttle again.

Now we are on to some finishing touches on the boat so we can shove off in a few days.  It does not help that every time I touch anything it falls apart in my hands, just adding to the to-do list.  I was feeling pretty smug after cleaning and re-organizing the rear storage area and the space beneath the rear sink.  After it was all done, I found a very thin package of cloth that I figured would fit perfectly snugged up behind the supply hose for the hot water tap.  A slight tug on the hose and it simply disintegrated at the base of the facet.  It was only by a stoke of luck that the water pressure was turned off limiting the ensuing geyser to the residual pressure in the system.  This type of event does not even phase us any more - on a 30 year old boat you just sort of take in for granted that everything is going to fail.

Today, after finally getting some up-mast work done (new LED anchor light, permanently mounted radar reflector, new signal line blocks and line, and some adjustments to the roller furling halyard block), we congratulated ourselves by launching the dinghy and trying the engine for the first time this season.  Of course, the engine is not working and when we were putting the dinghy up on the davits, one of the shackles used to hoist the dinghy just fell apart.  So now I have another unexpected day's work ahead of me.  Just par for the course when you live on a boat.