The
mood is discernibly moribund at the marina come haul-out time. Day
after day boats disappear form their slips and reappear in the
parking lot on metal stands and blocks of wood. This is known as
being "on the hard" and it's hard.
I
had scheduled Topanga's haul out date to be as late as possible this
year which allowed for some excellent autumn sailing. It was cool but
also crisp and with significantly less pleasure craft traffic on the
river which allowed for more room to freely maneuver.
In
preparing for land the Rushmore team all pitched in for sail removal
and folding. This is a job that is pretty difficult to do alone or
with just two people.
The
day inevitably came when we motored over to the fuel dock to pump out
the septic tank and fill the fuel tank one last time. Then on the
signal of the marina foreman we slid into the travel lift straps and
were hoisted up into the air. I had paid $78 to have the hull
immediately power washed; I was reticent because I thought I could do
this myself once securely in place with my own power washer but
figured I better go with the pros on this one. While the hull was
being blasted I asked the guy how much pressure their washer produced
and he said something insane like 5000psi and at 95 degrees Celsius.
My power washer is give a piddly 1800 psi with no heating so I think
I made the right choice on this splurge as the hull is clean as a
whistle. I just wish it was included in the price of the haul out and
not another marina "extra".
The
marina reserves the right to place your boat wherever they choose and
this year I was happy to be placed with all the other large sailing
yachts. The previous year I was way on the other side with mostly
motorboats. Additionally now she's on concrete versus gravel last
year which will likely make less mess. Buoy do they pack them in!
This guy was like a surgeon with the travel lift squeezing a 35'
15,000lbs boat literally a few inches from other boats.
Now
that she's out we can see the full extend of the keel damage from
hitting rocks earlier in the season. It actually looks worse that I
had seen diving underwater, quite a chunk bitten out. We'll have to
see the best repair options.
Once
she was securely in place the long list of winterizing commenced. I
am a huge believer in checklist and the one I've developed for
wintering (among many other boat related checklists) is quite
thorough...but can also always be improved. Antifreeze in the engine,
antifreeze in the bilge, antifreeze in the head, empty water tanks,
foot pumps, etc.
Last
year my wintering protection was awful. I had such a hodgepodge of
tarps covering the boat tied every which way that it looked like
those Occupy Wall Street encampments. Unfortunately the snow and rain
would pool and accumulate in the tarps instead of running off. This
would thaw and refreeze forming huge heavy blocks of ice suspended 3"
above the deck by a thin tarp at risk of tearing and disaster. I
would go almost every weekend and from below with great exertion lift
these block of ice and dump them off the side ("lookout below!")
This was admittedly not one of my proudest engineering designs. This
year however I have devised a system that I think will be far
superior. Using some flexible pasting plumbing tubbing I am rigging
ribs across the boat from stanchion to stanchion that should
maintains an concave shape to allow snow / rain to run off. Two giant
40'x20' tarps on either side will create "seamless"
protection. To overcome the challenges of the the side stays I will
make precise incisions in the tarps to get the by the bales and then
use Velcro tape to re-attach them. Thus far this design appears to be
working well although not as perfectly as I envisaged. Firstly the
tarps are actually too wide and run down to the ground causing all
kinds if excess tarp that needs to be managed. Tarps 40'x15' would be
ideal.
As
usual, much thanks needs to be given to help from angels.
And
now to winter thoughts of warmer winds.
