Spring Haulout - Success! (kind of)

As mentioned in the previous post, there is a complicated calculus involved with making a weekday rendezvous when leaving from our home dock. After all the drama of the first attempt, we decided to simplify things this time by taking the boat down on a Sunday, when the Berkley bridge opens on request. The trip down the Eastern Branch went off without a hitch. We left her at a marina near the boatyard and went home for the night.

 Ti' Punch waiting patiently for the morning

 When morning came, we had a strong Southeast wind pinning us on the dock. Not wanting to delay any further, we went ahead and told the boatyard we were on our way. After a little pushing and shoving, we managed to get off the dock and underway. Getting into the well for the Travel Lift was another adventure. The wind was strong from the aft port quarter as we approached the well that was only slightly wider than the boat. I ended up leaning heavily on a piling on the starboard side as I powered into the slings. That left a nice new streak down the starboard side that will have to be buffed out one of these days. Oh well, at least we had finally made it into the slings. We might be back in the water for Memorial Day weekend after all.

 Free at last

 The marks above the engine exhaust are from getting off the dock, but look how clean the props are. Prop Speed is expensive, but it works.

 It's hard to tell the new scrapes from the old, but I know where each one came from

 People say cats aren't pretty, but I've grown fond of this one

Due to the various delays, we didn't have as much time in the yard as we were hoping for. It was very important to the Admiral that the boat be back in the water and ready to go for Memorial Day weekend. In order to make sure that I made that schedule, all I really got done was cleaning the bottom and fresh bottom paint and Prop Speed. The zincs all looked good. While messing around with the props I discovered that the lock nut for the starboard Gori prop was gone and the main nut had backed off all the way to the back of the threads. Apparently the barnacles were the only thing holding the prop on. That gives you a warm fuzzy feeling doesn't it? That got fixed with a new lock nut and some red Loctite. The port prop looked fine.

After two weeks in the yard, it was time to bring Ti' Punch home. The yard wanted to put us back in the water at 10AM. The bridge wouldn't open again until 1PM. The plan was to go back to the dock we had staged at before the haulout and just wait until 12:30 or so before heading to the Berkley bridge. Unfortunately, when we got there we found that there was no room at the inn. The annual migration of snowbirds North had begun and the marina was full of trawlers. I had my oldest son with me again, and decided just to do a little sight seeing. We headed down the Elizabeth river toward Norfolk Naval Station.

Enthusiastic crew

It was already a grey day, but pretty soon the sky began to look ominous. Just about the time we reached the Naval Station piers, there was a marked drop in the air temperature. I turned around and headed back to downtown Norfolk, even though we were still early for the Berkley lift. The boat felt great underneath us, all light and responsive with her clean hulls.

Doesn't look good for staying dry. Let's turn around now

 Just as we reached the coal piers at Lambert's Point the rain caught up with us. My crew quickly retreated below. I have no pictures of the actual rain because my phone is not water proof. It was incredibly violent. The wind was blowing the rain horizontally. The drops stung like needles on the backs of my legs and neck. Visibility went to crap and the world turned white for a little while. The rain eased by the time we reached Nauticus and the USS Wisconsin, but the wind was still kicking 25 to 30 knots steady with higher gusts and very cold. We continued on past the ferry dock at Waterside and sheltered in the lee of the Sheraton where we did little circles for a half an hour until the bridge opened for us.

The rest of the trip up the Eastern Branch to our home dock was cold, wet, and miserable, but otherwise uneventful. So ends the saga/ordeal of the Spring haulout for 2013.