Hauling the boat onto the hard. Sounds a bit like a challenge given to a wayward sailor....
For us it marks the end of the season and the milestone of the last 10 days of work. Packing up means everything is stripped from the boat (lines, sails, dinghy) and given a good soaking in fresh water. It means a couple of trips to the top of the mast to collect wind instruments and antennas. It means figuring out how to minimize the heat in the boat when outside temps will easily top 100 everyday. It means covering every port and hatch with soft cloth, insulated tin, and canvas covers. This year it meant sewing a 20 x 22 foot awning to lash over the boom and cockpit to protect the dinghy and both kayaks. It means measuring and keeping a list of everything to bring back in the fall to put Magic back together for the next season. (Our list this year is pretty tame: a few bolts, engine trinkets, tramps, new mast head light, etc). And it means figuring out what to take along for our 5 months on the road. So yeah, it means alot of work. And we managed to coordinate it with the first HOT day of the season.
And then the captain drives the boat into the ditch, works with the crew to set the straps to avoid all the goodies on the bottom (props, sail drives, transducers, etc) and find the balance point so no tipping! (We do have pictures to help get the straps set right -- but it is always a juggle time.)
It all went off like a charm and we were very grateful for Zeke's assistance.
At this point as we are a day down the road: out of sight and out of mind.
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| Zeke -- The Boat Guy |
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| Into the ditch. 10 inches to spare on each side! Going VERY SLOW till lines tossed |
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| Squeezing into the ditch--keep those yellow blocks off my topsides! |
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| Now we are flying! Next stop: pressure wash the bottom; then block her up for summer |
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| Resting in place while they find the right size blocks. |
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