The day dawned with just a bit of wind and with great sunny skies. We were on the schedule to be hauled out at 1100 so we had lots of things to do before hand.
We checked in with the moorage office to let them know we would not be spending another night in the marina. They'll credit our bill with the refund for the moorage. At 0900, Sean the lift operator stopped by to see Zephyr and make plans for the haul out and let us know what to expect. We had lots of paperwork to read--liability stuff.
We had to fill Zephyrs water tanks as there is no water in the yard. That took us till almost 1030 and then we motored over to the waste pump out station to pump out our sewage. It was now closing in on 1100 so we made for the "waiting dock". Sean came back down and stepped off Zephyrs length and looked at pictures we have of previous haul outs to see where the straps for the haul out went on Zephyrs hull. Off he went to get the lift ready. I walked down and took a look at the dock situation for turning Zephyr around so we could back into the lift.
A few minutes later they signaled that they were ready for us at the lift. On came the engine and in we went. I'd warned the small boat beside the lift that we were coming and that they might want to put out some fenders just in case. The woman looked at me and said "you sound like you're serious". I looked at her and said " I am!. What do they do? She gets up and takes her dog for a walk. The guy stuck around but got a hose to wash down their boat(no extra fenders).
In we went staying to the right(the wind had now started picking up of course) so we could make the swing to port so we could back in. I passed close to one boat and swung to port. We got sideways to the lift area and I pout Zephyr into reverse. Her starboard prop walk did the rest. When we engage reverse on Zephyr, the spin of the propeller makes her swing her stern to starboard. The only way to slow it is gain enough speed in reverse and then take her out of gear. Then, the water passing over the rudder will swing her stern to port. If you leave her in reverse gear, she will swing right around.
Once I engaged the reverse, and the starboard started to swing around, I slipped her into forward with the rudder hard over to port and she went forward just a bit. Then back into reverse(kicks her starboard) and she slipped right into the lift area. The lift guys grabbed hold of Zephyr and between the four of us, kept her steady in the "slot" until they could get the straps under her hull.
Up she came slick as a whistle. Safe and sound. They took her over to the wash area so we could get the slime off her hull. The two guys then took off for lunch and left us to the wash down. We blasted her hull to get as much off as we could. We had barnacles growing here and there. The new zinc we had installed back in Prince Rupert on June 7th had already started to degrade around the screws that hold it on. Not a good sign. We'd painted the screws(stops the reaction between stainless steel and zinc) and yet, all the paint on the screws was gone. We'll try a different paint and install a new zinc before we launch Zephyr.
Once we had her nice and clean, we took off for lunch and let the men get on with placing her in her storage racks and blocks.
We returned and started straightening up everything on deck and the mess we had made inside getting everything ready. Stowing fenders and dock lines as well as other ropes. We dropped off some spare parts and line we no longer need with Jenny at her boat in Sea Marines yard. Then off to Safeway to get a few things and back to Zephyr for dinner.
While we were cleaning Zephyrs hull, we occasionally got some of the back spray on ourselves so we took off for the showers at Point Hudson. Tomorrow, Tracy will be there doing laundry. It's still the cheapest place around to do it. I get to be up side down in the bilge setting all the mud cleaned out and a new float switch installed. The old one died a while ago. Then we will start taking off the old bottom paint. We bought paint stripper to brush on and scrape off the paint. Sure hope it works. It's got to be better than using sand paper.
Tomorrow, the fun begins.
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