Finally Haul Out Day!

September 13, 2021

After our Haul Out Debacle last month, I didn’t want to post anything until I actually saw our boat raised out of the water. Yesterday, we made ready to leave dock with only a minor setback when Ben noticed our throttle would not go into forward gear. Yikes!

However, being the fix it man he is, he quickly diagnosed the problem and got it repaired. So after undoing all the lines that were required for us to be on a fixed dock, at 10:45, we slowly motored our way out of the slip. It was a calm morning, so windage was not a problem as we nosed out into Sarah’s Creek.

We put the main up once we entered York River anticipating a beam reach across the bay to Cape Charles. However, the wind was basically on the nose the whole way. Thus, we set one engine to 2000 rpms and motored at about 6-7 knots. It was a beautiful day and motoring was easy since the sea state and wind were both calm. It was an uneventful day, and we were glad for it.

We arrived in Cape Charles on the south end of the DelMarVa peninsula about 14:30 and sided-tied without incident. There was a Lagoon that was being pulled right after we arrived that was about 3 inches wider than us. Ben went to observe to anticipate how difficult it would be for them to pull us. He said it was tight, but they seemed to know what they were doing. Tomorrow afternoon, we hoped all would go well for us.

We had a relaxing evening watching a glorious sunset off our stern. Since the mosquitoes were thick, we watched from the coziness of our saloon.

September 14, 2021

As we were getting ready to leave this morning to pick up our rental car, Enterprise called and indicated that the car we were supposed to rent came in with damage. So they would need to scrounge us up another car and would get back to us. We had our fingers crossed that we would hear from them soon as we needed to pick it up before the yard hauled us out this afternoon. Hurry up and wait seemed to be a part of boat life!

Finally, at noon we were on our way in the courtesy car from Cape Charles Yacht Center to pick up our rental in Belle Haven. Yay, first hurdle down for the day!

Our haul out time was at 14:30 as we needed to wait for high tide. Meanwhile, we ate lunch and watched a photographer take off in his flying dinghy contraption. It was a very unique sight.

We readied the lines and started toward the ramp where the travel lift was placed. Ben turned the boat so that we went in stern first and we handed off the stern lines to the yard staff. Now the real work began. It was a tight squeeze to get us through and there was a lot of squeaking from the narrow fenders between us and the concrete sides of the ramp. The boat was slowly walked back, moving the straps under the rudders. At one point, when the widest part of the boat was passing a pilon, I thought we might get stuck, but they slowly and slightly repositioned the boat and we finally made it in place. Whew! 2^nd hurdle of the day was completed.

Then they power washed the boat, took it across the road and blocked it on land. All good! 3^rd hurdle done!

Now it was time to relax and have some dinner at the Sting-Ray’s diner which was in a gas station, convenience store and had been around for over 50 years. The Imperial Crab dish was recommended, so we had to give it a try. It was good but not as delectable as I was expecting. Nevertheless, Ben’s ribs and mac and cheese were cooked to perfection. Overall, it was an interesting local experience. Evidently people traveled year after year to this diner on the highway.

September 15, 2021

This afternoon we met with the yard foreman regarding the items we needed completed:

• Larger thru hulls for AC and generator
• Service the engines
  • Pull engines and replace gaskets and hoses as needed
  • Cook heat exchangers
  • Replace exhaust elbows
  • Inspect fuel injectors
  • Replace alternators
• Grease rudder bearings.

They felt confident they could complete these tasks in about 3 weeks. I hoped it would not be more than this because everyday out of the water costs money for hotel and rental car.

Meanwhile, we had a litany of other tasks we needed to complete during this time. Cummings indicated that would come out next week to replace the water pump in the generator now that Ben had discovered that it was not using the amount of water as indicated. We were hoping and praying that this would be the end of our generator saga. Should I knock on wood??!!

In addition, we plan to do some exploring by car. Cape Charles is a cute little town with many adorable homes and a beautiful beach.

At this point we were optimistic that all would go well, and we would be back in the water soonerthan later!

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