High n' Dry

In the cold November sunshine, Chris and I made our way to Sandusky Harbor for likely the last trip of 2007. The time had come to haul my girl out for the season. The marina offered to haul the boat out themselves for $50, but I needed to grab some things off the boat before she went into storage. Besides, I had never seen the boat out of the water so I had to be there!

We moved the boat near to the lift to do our unloading. We removed all of the cushions, CG equipment, electronics and the battery. We also removed the boom and tucked it inside the cabin. In fact it and the anchor were the only things left inside. Soon it was time to motor over to the well. After I tied up the first thing they did was remove the mast. A boom arm came in and hooked in while 2 techs removed the deck hardware. Soon it was in the air and on its rack.



Wow! Look! Naked sailboat!

Now it was time for the fun part. The lift came back for the hull. They manuvered into position and hooked up the straps. With the throw of a lever and the revving of the diesel engine the hull was lifted in the water. Her blue bottompaint was brown with slime.



After she was clear of the well, over she went for a bath. In no time the bright blue of her antifouling paint was revealed. She is a beauty! Soon a tractor came over, pulling a trailer containing my cradle. They set her down and touched up the areas they had missed when the straps were in place. Soon she was on her way to her winter berth.

After they manuvered her into place among the others, Chris and I climbed back onboard to gather the last few items. The first to come down was her 85lb Tohatsu outboard, which proved to not be as bad as I thought. We also grabbed the fuel tank. We aslo grabbed a few of my winter projects: the aluminum tiller (which needed paint), a few cabinet doors in need of stain and varnish, and her two cockpit locker covers/seats. The wood covers were in poor shape. The starboard cover was the worst. I pulled it off its hinges with the same amount of force I'd use to pull a pizza out of an oven! They will both be replaced with new wood. I still have to decide it I'm going to go with stained-wood seats or if I will glass them in.


I locked up the companionway and made my way down the ladder (the boat sits up a good 9' in the air), dropped off my sails at service (they are due for a cleaning and stitching) and headed home. Now the question is, where the hell will all of this stuff go?!?!