Back on the Water and Moving!

As planned, we left in early October to visit family in Texas and Arkansas for several weeks. Our timing could not have been more perfect, as we left two days before Matthew struck. It was quite chaotic the day before we left, as we had to prepare the boat for a Category 3 Hurricane.

For the first time, we had to strip the boat. The bimini proved much easier to get off than we thought it would. So the bimini and sunshades all came down, were neatly folded, and placed in very large Ziploc Space Bags. The genoa also had to come down. We were very nervous about that as we'd never removed one of the sails before. But, we opened it up and down it came flapping in the breeze. We even got it folded perfectly for easy access to raise it later. The sail fit perfectly in its designated bag. All of the outside cushions were stored in the empty cabin. The bag of bimini was tossed into one of the heads. The sail bag was placed in the salon floor with the outside plastic chairs and cooler. The dinghy was kept raised without the outboard. While we didn't lash the dinghy down, we did tie it to the boat in six different directions to ensure it stayed put. The outboard was mounted in a separate place in the cockpit to ensure its safety. The kayaks were stacked and lashed to the center of the bow of the boat between the trampolines. We literally lashed lines through the kayaks themselves and around the metal walkway to ensure they would go nowhere. We took extremely long spring lines and lashed our main sail bag (which housed the dropped main sail) to the boom. We also took care to ensure every line was tucked and tied so that nothing was flapping in the wind.

With the boat stripped and strapped to the hard, there was nothing left but to pack and leave. We plugged in a dehumidifier, set out four damp rid containers (one in each cabin), packed us and the cat up, locked everything up, and left. As we were leaving, the yard was finishing putting the last boat they had room for up on its blocks. There was literally a line of boats through the parking lot, one in front of the other, all being strapped down for the incoming hurricane. We were in Alabama when the mandatory evacutation of St. Augustine began, and the tropical storm on the front end of the hurricane struck. We were in Texas when the hurricane itself struck. We spent the next few days watching social media and news stations for any word on the boatyard. No one was allowed back into that area (due to damage and flooding) for a few days. We finally got word, from three different friends of ours in the yard, that our boat made it through the hurricane perfectly fine. The only damaged boat, in the whole yard, was one small monohull that had been parked directly in front of our boat. It had decided not to get strapped down, so as the flooding came in, it floated off of its blocks. As the water receded, the boat laid over on its side away from our boat. Somehow the boat had manage to miss every other boat in the vicinity when it went down.

With a sigh of relief, we proceed to enjoy our time away. We celebrated the Admiral's birthday in Texas with the Captain's family. We drove to Arkansas to see the Admiral's twin brother and his family. Our children enjoyed spending a solid week with their cousins. We celebrated our daughter's birthday back in Texas again. We got to spend time with friends that we hadn't seen in almost a year. With the exception of the horrible traffic, we had a good time. We headed back to our boat in the first part of November to prepare for our travels.

We arrived back at our boat on a Thursday. Absolutely no water entry had occurred from the hurricane. We had no new mold/mildew of any kind. The boat smelled fresh and clean. She was sporting a brand new bottom paint job as well to make her look extra good. We had the bimini back on and the genoa back up on Friday. We unlashed everything and put the boat back together. On Monday morning, first thing, we were scheduled to finally go back into the water.

Now you must realize that we had been out of the water and on the hard for six months. We had been through every small area of the boat, and every system, multiple times across the summer for various repairs and refits. To say we were nervous of placing her back into the water is an understatement. Neither of us could eat and we wondered if feeling like you were going to vomit was normal. We watched as they slowly (we were thankful they went very slow) drove her across the yard and gently placed her into the water.

We hopped on board and immediately checked the bilges - dry. We check the new through hulls - dry.  Whew. We turned the ignition for the port engine and it fired up perfectly. We turned the ignition on the starboard engine and....nothing. We tried again.....nothing. As we were trying a third time, the starboard bilge alarm went off - oh no!

The Admiral ran down to the starboard hull and began pulling up the bilge covers. She followed the incoming water towards the bow. Upon lifting the third cover (which is where the vent for the lower water tank comes in), she thought "Wait, is it fresh water or salt water? Maybe it's just one of the water tanks leaking." She quickly tasted the water, "Crap, salt water. It's coming from outside." She proceeded further toward the bow and found water streaming in around the speed sensor. The Captain had removed the speed sensor prior to launching to clean it. It's a screw fitting through the hull. Apparently when he reinstalled it, it got cross threaded. It just had taken a few minutes for the water to run through the bilge and sound off the alarm. Upon being informed of the problem, the Captain quickly responded to correct the problem. Out came the offending item and quickly re-screwed into place to stop the water. Whew. Now back to that engine. The Captain turned the ignition and it fired up. However, the battery charge light would not go out. We could, however, at least move now. They removed the straps from us and out we went over to the south dock. The Captain maneuvered the boat perfectly. You'd had never known he'd not driven her in six months! With fenders and dock lines out, we tied her up to the floating dock, turned off the engines, and expelled a sigh of relief. We were back on the water!

Our cat didn't share our enthusiasm. He did not like the loud engines firing up, let alone the boat actually moving! After awhile he settled in and became his normal curious self.

"Is it over yet?"

We had already scheduled to have a few days on the dock to get things ready before leaving. We went down and opened up the intakes for the heads (toilets). The hoses had been removed to change out the through hulls. Apparently they didn't get put back on quite tight enough. Both heads had small leaks around the hoses. We tried the starboard engine again. The battery charge light was still not going out. Damn. Must be the alternator. The port side engine had been running long enough to charge the starboard engine's battery so it could start. But the alternator would have to be replaced before we could leave, and we didn't have a spare on board. We got the hoses fixed within a few days. We had the alternator checked to confirm it was indeed the problem (it was), which took a few more days. Then we ordered two more brand new alternators (a replacement AND a spare) which took a few more days to arrive. While awaiting for the arrival of the new alternator, our three month old water pump died (fortunately, we had a new spare on board). The water pump was also under warranty, so a rental car later had us another new spare in stock. After a few store runs to stock up on supplies, the alternators arrived. The Captain changed out the alternator and we were set. We proceeded to go around the yard and let all the friends, that we had met and been hanging out with for six months, know we were finally taking off. With all of their well wishes, we set out at 7:00am this morning.

With the new props, our like new boat drives like a dream. She makes 8-9 knots with the engines now and doesn't shake or rattle like before. She drives very smooth. We came upon the north end of the Matanzas inlet (the area of our grounding, that caused our original stop in St. Augustine six months ago). We had left early to ensure an arrival through the area on a rising tide. This time, we flew through untouched. We stopped for gas in Palm Coast. Again, the Captain handled her like he'd never been away from the helm. Our first destination heading south this evening is Daytona Beach. We owe a few friends of ours a 'dinghy over for a drink.' It's our turn to host, so we are prepared with burger, brats, and beer. We are finally on the move again, and it feels great!



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