A Trip North

Well, the boat hauler, Steve Morse of Morse Overland Marine, arrived on the morning of April 25 and whisked her up to Tim's shop. I prepped the boat as much as I could. I stripped the rub rails and removed the portlights to save time any time I could. Then I loaded up the hardware and some supplies that he could use, like leftover epoxy and the like and stowed them below. Fortunately, we had a decent little weather window for the haul. However, rain is forecast throughout the weekend.

It sure is nice knowing that Sea Glass is sitting comfortably inside Tim's shop with work moving ahead regardless of the weather. Well, I don't know about "comfortable" from her perspective. I suppose having your decks drilled, sawed and ground is like a bad visit to the dentist for a boat. But, at least she's dry and being readied for an early June launch - a much different feeling than a year ago. This year, I can just check Tim's website and see that the deck work is getting done on the boat, getting done right, and getting done fast. Pretty cool.

Heh. I got an email today from my friend Scott. He helped me out many a day last Summer. Anyway, I had emailed him Tim's link for the Sea Glass project. This was his reply:

holy hell! he's done half of our summer's work in 8 hours...

-scott

Enough said.

So, here are a series of pictures of the haul. It was all new to me a few years back when I moved up here and got my first boat. It's a pretty neat process that happens twice a year, unless you store the boat at yard.

The trailer can be raised and lowered hydraulically. It's also got a support running between each set of wheels that can be removed so the keel and blocks on the ground fit between the wheels. After it is backed in position, the pads, also hydraulic, are adjusted so they until they fully support the boat. Then the jack stands are removed. The support is replaced between the trailer wheels and locked in place. Then the trailer is raised and the boat strapped down.





And there she goes! So, Tim has already been updating his site with his daily progress. In the meantime, I have many things to get ordered and much to be done before launch day...

(BTW, I have no idea what happened with the placement of these pictures. I'll try an fix it when I get a chance. Google has done a great job on this Blog thing, but the handling of images can use some help - or I can...)

A New Year...

Well, the winter wasn't too horrible, but decided to make a statement on its way out. Actually, it was Spring that made the statement. This is a picture of the house on April 5, 2007. The boat is under the green tarp to the right. We had two Spring snow storms, and a brutal Nor'Easter that hammered us for a few days around the 16th of April.

With the boating season around the corner, and already pressed for time with basketball games, opening day at Fenway, and birthday parties, I just couldn't see spending another Summer on the recore. In any event, anfter talking it over with my very sweet and understanding wife, we came to a decision. Long story short - it's Tim Lackey to the rescue. He was able to fit me into his schedule this Spring and said he could complete the rest of the deck job and get me launched within the budget I gave him. In fact, tomorrow the boat will be hauled to his shop in Whitefield, and the reconstruction will begin in earnest.

I'm fortunate enough that, at this point in time, we are able to squeak this luxury in. I am totally psyched about seeing the decks after Tim has worked his magic, and even more so at the prospect of going sailing again with the family this Summer!

Other goings on:

The boat has a new name. I finally threw one out there that everyone liked, so hopefully she is on her way to becoming part of the family. Oh, it's Sea Glass. We took a great vacation last Summer out to Chebeague Island, and combing the beach there for sea glass was just about our favorite thing to do. We got loads of it!

April 1: Upon uncovering the boat to clean it up for Tim, who was coming out to do a pre-haul inspection, I was greeted with an absolute mess down below. A squirrel had taken up residence in the v-berth, thoroughly trashed things, chewed a few access panels and other wood throughout, and to top it off, had babies - four of them. We delivered them to a local animal rescue guy who took them in. I named them O-Ring, Gasket, Filter and Impeller for obvious reasons. The boat name was almost changed to Squirrel.

Boat work: I got the lead pig out of the bilge, the portlights removed, the rub rail, everything to try and use Tim's time better. I could go on, but speaking of using time, I really need to get things together for tomorrow's haul. Way too much to do and too little time...

I'll add the link to Tim's site to the right. He'll log the progress better than I ever could.