Haul out day

After leaving the boat at Brands Marina for a couple of weeks we got the call that the Jet Express folks were ready for us to haul out. I recruited a friend to help out. We arrived at the boat about thirty minutes early to take the windshield down. This had been lifted at the prior yard in an effort to get the mast lower on the boat allowing the shrouds to lay on deck. Once the mast was lowered to the deck level they then put blocks under the windshield and reinstalled it over the top of the port shroud. Unfortunately our windshield is made of impact resistant glass and is quite heavy so it really took three of us to get it off. We ended up putting a blanket down and resting it on our table. Which seems to be where it will rest for the winter or until I figure out how to remove the blocks and get the window put back up.

As we got the window off we got the call that they were ready for us. We had 20kt winds and a pretty good current in the river that day. I would guess their haul out well is 30ft wide so there would not be much room for error. I got our friend Lance on the starboard side with a headset so he could tell me where we were position wise as with the mast down I can't see that side of the boat. Once out in the river I positioned the boat towards the well and let it drift down river until we could buzz in. We somehow made it in unscathed and I'm told even made it look like I knew what I was doing.

Once in the well they had four guys ready to grab our lines and position the boat in the straps. I had given them the diagrams from the manual showing how to lift and block the boat. Surprisingly they each had prints of them and were actually using them. They took a few minutes to position the boat correctly and pulled it out without any issues.

As I was talking to the guys helping I learned that they were all working Captains that drive their ferry boats in the summer months then move into yard and boat maintenance duties over the winter months. They worked together really well. Stopped asking each other questions while referring to the diagrams provided. Overall I was feeling really confident with these guys and they ended up blocking the boat exactly like the manual said.

Originally the plan was to pull the mast off first but after we arrived they had decided to pull the boat then take the mast off once the boat was in place using the hoist. The problem with this was that they could not put the mast very close to the boat due to the width of the lift. After double checking with me on the weight the team made the decision to get their cherry picker out with a small spreader bar which was used to lift both the mast and boom off the boat. This allowed them to set it right beside the boat giving them an extra twenty feet of yard space. The three of us got to work getting all of the straps off the mast that had been holding it on the boat until now. We started with getting the boom off. This went well but it wanted to spin in the wind which was frightening as Lance and I both had to duck as it came around the first time. Then we did the mast the same way but with the addition of a couple of our dock lines tied at each end of the mast with someone holding it to provide more control as it was lifted off and set down. The process while a bit scary for me went pretty smoothly considering these guys know a lot about the ferry boats they work on every day but very little about sailboats.

So at this point the boat is out of the water for the winter and ready to be winterized. They even put concrete blocks around our mast and boat to help ensure no one can accidentally drive into them. The next step is to drain the water system then run the pink stuff through everything plumbing wise including the water maker and five AC units. Once this is completed I'll change the oil, oil filters, and fuel filters for all three engines then run the blue stuff though the engines hopefully ensuring nothing in there freezes over the winter. Once that's done I have another company lined up to shrink wrap the boat. Hopefully that will help protect the boat from the ice and other elements over the winter months.