Belle of the Boatyard: Back in Deltaville

 

Seven weeks in Galesville flew by quickly and before we knew it, it was time to prepare for our southward journey and our appointment in Deltaville to have Starry Night hauled.  Although we wondered how it was possible that we did so little exploring of the Chesapeake while we were here, we enjoyed the time there - especially the time with Jessie and Will.  As a wrap-up to our time in Galesville, we hosted a Happy Hour for some of our neighbors which was a lot of fun and took in the Annapolis Boat Show with our good friends and adventure partners, Jonathan and Heather.  

Moonrise over the mooring field in Galesville

Rich and Cherie, with a cameo appearance by Jethro

Rick and Jethro - Jethro's first dinghy ride was to Starry Night for happy hour

Jonathan and Heather

The morning of our planned departure was a sunny, but chlly,.. 35 degrees.  I stepped out onto the deck and was surprised to slip on a bit of frost!  This is something I had never anticipated and hope never to experience again...LOL.  Unfortunately, this week's forecast is showing a low of 27 degrees F one night. We obviously need to leave the Chesapeake earlier next time.

I know it's not much, but it's the principle!
Frost and sailing should not exist simultaneously!

       

Our trip back down to Deltaville, was uneventful and consisted of 3 days of motoring/sailing.  We did a reverse of our northward journey, with stops at Reedville and Solomons.

Sunset in Reedville

On the morning of the 24th we arrived at our appointed time to be hauled out at the Stingray Point marina, where I had confirmed that they could lift a catamaran with a 24 foot beam (width).  As the workers began the process I heard one of them say, "she looks too wide", and then asked us to confirm the beam.  Just the day before, Steve had been looking at our boat's owners manual and had made the comment that our boat is 24.3 feet wide...i.e. 24 feet 4 inches.  Turns out the boat lift they were using could haul a boat that is 24 feet 1 inch. It had not occurred to me that the 3rd significant figure would matter in boat specifications...another lesson learned. 😦

As luck would have it, there was another boat yard in the same town able to accommodate our 24.3 foot beam and an opening on Wednesday -  just two days later! Perfect!! We made our way there, emptied our holding tanks and refilled our water tanks and waited for our appointment. After an hour or so, someone met us at the dock and informed us that one of the parts on the hydraulic lift had broken during the previous lift but they had the required part in stock so we would be only be delayed until the next day. The next day came and went and, as so often is the case in the boating world, the part wasn't available and had to be ordered.....Monday, the 31st would be our haul-out date. 

All things considered, we were thrilled to have only a week's delay and the new boatyard has much nicer facilities anyway so no harm, no foul.

The 31st arrived and we once again made preparations for haul-out. The lift had been repaired and was ready to go so Steve motored Starry Night to the lift basin and nudged her forward, over the top of the slings which lift the boat.  I was on-deck to communicate with the lift crew. As the lift operator began lifting Starry Night, two other members of the crew were placed on either side to make sure she was centered between the uprights and to ensure no damage to the boat occurred. Let me say this: this boat lift could accommodate our 24.3 feet with about a half an inch to spare. The crew was phenomenal though, and through careful attention, teamwork and brute strength, we were hauled-out successfully and without damage.

Once on the hard, job #1 was getting Jake on board. This was something we were quite concerned about since Jake detests being picked up. He surprised us once again, though, by being relatively calm during the embarkation process. 

  

          

     Jake, resigned to the indignity of
    being carried up the ladder

Success!

     

        

Halloween 2022 rounded out nicely with a visit from some of the younger members of the cruising community....a nice pick-me-up after the uncertainties and emotional ups and downs that come with ever-changing plans..

Trick or Treaters in the boatyard

Next step:  Bottom work

Barnacles around the sail drive (the white spots on the hull 
are places where barnacles have already been removed)

Belle of the boat yard

The primary reason for hauling the boat was to do maintenance on the hull and components which are not conveniently accessed while in the water, including barnacle removal, sail drive and engine servicing, anchor chain maintenance, windlass inspection and lubrication, gel coat repair, bottom sanding and painting

Woo hoo!  Let's get to it!

170 feet of freshly
galvanized anchor chain

While Steve started with disassembly, cleaning and re-coating of the sail drives, my first project was dealing with the anchor chain.  It turns out that this was the most interesting project in the boatyard ;-) , and I had several visitors stop by each day with questions about the products and process I was using.  The process was certainly not quick and entailed painstaking washing the chain, applying etching agent to the chain, removing the byproducts of the etching process, spraying multiple coats of cold galvanizing "paint", and finally spray-painting segments of chain every 20 feet and attaching zip-ties so that you can tell how much chain you're letting out when dropping anchor. Only time will tell if the time invested is worth it, but it looks good - even if I do say so myself.

Next up, Steve designed and manufactured sail-drive seals and covers as I was servicing the windlass and applying a final coat of gel-coat to the repaired area in the anchor hold. My skill-set is definitely expanding! 😀

Windlass in various states of disassembly

Reassembled windlass and gel coat repair

Once we finished the work that needed to be done before painting the boat, Steve got down to the dirty and uncomfortable business of sanding the hull, repairing dings to the keel and applying the bottom paint. 

First coat of bottom paint...done!

Once we finish the bottom paint, we'll move on to final cosmetic repairs of the gel coat and waxing.  

We had originally hoped to be back in Florida for Thanksgiving but at this point, won't be able to make it.  Rather than leave right away and spend Thanksgiving alone en route, we've decided to wait until after Thanksgiving to leave Deltaville. In addition to being able to spend the holiday with Jessie and Will, we have surprisingly found someone who can make an enclosure for our helm within the next couple of weeks. I had given up hope since everyone I had called told me they were booked until next spring. This is totally awesome and definitely worth a short delay since traveling in cold, windy weather would be quite unpleasant without one.  

Meanwhile, lest you think that all Steve and I do is work, rest assured that we are taking time to stop and smell the roses. We are surrounded by beauty and lovely people; life is good.