Success at last!
Yesterday we staged for the short-haul. We were the 4th boat on the N side of the pier. No auxillary power since we had an empty shaft (no prop.) We waited for the right time when tide and wind were in agreement...let the dock lines loose...Holding Pattern slid off the pier...with the help of the dinghy and lots of hands on lines we were no closer than 10ft from any other boat at any time. Many hands make light work. We slid into the front spot under the lift, de-rigged the boat and waited. Altogether we had John & Luanne (Mesmeriah), Alan & Marilyn (Scaramouche), Unnamed British couple on the first boat in line, Robert (Silver Girl), Greg (Southern Cross), Paul the Dockmaster, Randy (Moonrise), George & Joan (Orion) and us. Good to have friends...
A quick note on de-rigging. Take your house and remove a few select, load-bearing rafters and support beams...take some of the siding off, a few shingles. Then put some straps under the house and have a crane/travel-lift raise your home off its foundation, turn it so you can do some work, then sit the house back down. Now go back and secure your shingles, siding rafters, support columns...
Now...the boat is out of the water suspended over the concrete... the prop slides on perfectly. The end nuts don't. So a few measurements later I'm standing in front of a chop saw turning an end nut into a castle nut thanks to Cap'n Dave, who has been an amazing think-tank around here. 6 slots cut and 10 minutes later the nut slides on, cotter pin in and spread...we're ready to go.
We splash, get turned around and....success! Running 1800rpm we hit 6 knots! Amazing for us! We got anchored securely and set about the business of tightening the shouds & backstays, tuning the rigging, getting the 125% genoa on the roller furling. By 11:00 we were having lunch. It is almost noon and we're settled in. Somehow life seems to be back to normal. The hand-crank Grundig radio is pumping out tunes, hatches are fully open, wind gen is spinning happily (and productively!) and we're bobbling with the motion of the water and not tied do a dock!
Life is good. |
