Season End

I am sitting in our air conditioned room writing this and waiting for Chris to return from working on the boat again. We both went over and did some work this morning but then I spent 2 hours in the dentist's chair again and he thought I should just relax for a bit. We have been working, working, working for the past several days trying to get as much accomplished at the slip as possible. We are so grateful to Chris' friend, Wally, who allowed us to use his slip while he was gone as it made it so much easier to get the boat ready for dry storage. Top photos show Chris washing lines and yours truly going through all the stores to decide what to leave, what to give away, what to toss, etc. Only two of the myriad things that needed doing.

"Faith" was hauled out yesterday and it was a pretty amazing production. We had an appointment for a 2pm haul out so we spent all morning working and hauling things off the boat & to our little motel room. At noon we left the slip to go pump out the holding tanks one last time and arrived at the boat ramp right on time only to find that a gigantic power boat was in our spot! There is no room to turn around so we tied up to the dock on the other side temporarily but it was a little tricky as the wind and current was pushing us toward a row of powerboats docked there. Once the powerboat was out, the line handlers took over and pulled "Faith" to the correct side of the dock where we waited for the tractor and trailer to arrive. They pulled her onto a very large trailer that has 6 or 8 pads on hydraulic arms so they can be positioned for about every kind of keel. Then, out of the water she came, slick as could be, just like your average skiboat behind a pickup. Next she was off to the work yard where they would pressure wash the bottom and Chris & I will do some last minute chores to get her buttoned up for the summer.

Tomorrow at 11 am they will move "Faith" to the dry storage yard where she will wait patiently for us to return in November so we can all resume our travels. In the meantime, Chris & I will stay here for one more day to re-organize all the "stuff" that is going home with us and then will be off to visit family and friends before our big adventure in French Polynesia aboard "Carinthia". All I can say at this point is "What a ride this is!"