The Saga So Far
For background information, read my last post.
I moved the boat from Wormley Creek as soon as I could. I found a spot at Seaford Yacht Club. I had arranged to take the boat on the 18th to Cobb’s Marina. But the weather report was looking pretty crappy. The next time the Marina could take it was yesterday.
To make this work on a weekday, I wanted to start early enough that I’d be done by noon and be able to put in at least half a day.
The tides didn’t look good. Low tide was at 6:30 am, just about the time I’d want to leave. And Back Creek is pretty shallow at that time. So my husband, Erik, and I went by last weekend at low tide to check how bad it really was. My handheld depth meter read 5.5′, so I had a foot under the boat. Not ideal, since I draw 4.5′, but at least I wasn’t sitting in the mud.
Thursday night didn’t go well. I’d shut my eyes and doze for about an hour, then wake up. I tried taking Melatonin and it didn’t seem to help the situation. I didn’t want to take anything stronger and risk not waking up at all.
Finally, at 5 am, I got up and headed to the marina. The boat was low in the water, that’s for sure! And most of the fenders I’d attached to the docks weren’t doing much good; they were guarding the lifelines.
I pulled everything in. I unattached the power, avoiding getting bitten by a couple of hornets who’d made the box their home. I rolled up the lines on the fenders, but threw the other lines in the cockpit to deal with on the ride over.
It stays pretty shallow in Back Creek for a bit. So shallow that Navionics has this red and black warning line on the route for the first 1/2 mile. But I got through that ok. This is still the Poquoson Flats though, so it was still about another 45 mintues before I could safely crank the engine and stop watching the depth so closely.
My autopilot, which has been going bad for awhile now, is now not working at all. I’d put it on, it would steer to port, then scream at me because it wasn’t going where it knew I wanted to be heading. So I gave up on it, locking the wheel for short periods if I needed to step away for a bit, or using my foot to steer.
Predict Wind said I could expect winds between 10 and 15 kts when I got to the bay. And, of course, I was near the shipping lanes. So it was a bit choppy. And without a sail (remember: my mast is still off) it was hard to smooth it out. But it wasn’t anything too terrible most of the time. Just a bit uncomfortable when said ships were passing.
I made it in good time, showing up at Cobb’s Marina at 11:35, which was good: the yard crew takes off for lunch at noon. I left the keys with them and caught myself a Lyft home.
Next task: get the bottom paint done while it’s out of the water.
Relocating
“Why don’t you come to the pool? It’s quite comfortable.”
“I’m not a pool person. How’s your boat?”
“I think you should hire me as your project manager when I retire.”
“You need to leave. You don’t like the work we do and now you tell me that you we don’t manage well. I think it’s time you need to leave.”
There was, of course, more. But that day, my grandkids and I were thrown out of the pool and I was told to leave the marina before 30 August, one month away.
Problem is, my boat is dismasted. As part of the plan to have all the major work done before I retire, I was having the rigging replace. So I not only had to move my boat, but I had to find a way to move the mast.
Phone calls started. Text messages started.
First I had to find a place for the mast. I wasn’t leaving the marina without it. I had work planned for the middle of August at another marina. So I called them first. They were able to move things around to be able to take my mast and store it until I showed up for the other work I had scheduled. They could also handle stepping my mast.
It was suggested that, like when one goes down the Great Loop, I put the mast on the boat with a framework.
This was the least expensive option. But it involved getting a frame constructed. And I didn’t want to, didn’t have the time to, do that.
See, part of the problem is that my daughter is getting married next weekend. I wanted to have this all taken care of before family started arriving. And I do have a real job that helps pay for my expensive habit. I didn’t want to take a lot of days off of work to take care of this.
A friend I texted suggested a moving company that handles unusual moves. I called them. They reconnaissanced at both the marina the mast was currently and the marina where the mast would be moving to. They said they could move it for $600, which I thought was quite reasonable. << shout out to Seaford Transfer!
I also had a text message going with friends I thought might be able to help me move the mast onto the trailer. See, the marina owner also told me that, not only could we not use the pool, they would not help me move the mast. Sigh!
I checked online to figure out what my mast would weigh. 600 lbs! But the friend who’d suggested the moving company also said that seemed a bit high. His estimate was 2-300 lbs.
I had 5 friends who said they could help with the move.
Two of them, Jodi and Steve, arrived early to help get some moving blankets wrapped around the mast and wrap the entire mast with rope to hold up the rigging.
We got it onto the truck and headed out.
I drove towards the new marina. On the way, I got a phone call from them. Because it was so hot (heat index > 100 degrees), they were going to try to let their crew off an hour early. No problem. We were on our way. Next issue: they took lunch between noon and 1 pm. I was arriving at the new marina at noon. The truck was behind me. So I called Seaford Transfer and told them to wait before heading over.
I went to Cobb’s Marina and filled out paperwork. I then went down the street for lunch, figuring to come back at 1 pm to watch the unloading and to grab my friend’s blankets.
When I got back to Cobb’s, the truck and trailer were there. The driver said he’d gone back to the yard and added more straps to the mast. With the traffic starting to back up, he ended up getting to Cobb’s just after 1 pm.
I watched them unload the mast. Much easier with a crane than when we did it by hand.
The mast was taken care of. Now to take care of the boat. I had 2 weeks between now and my appointment to bring it to Cobb’s. I could go the Dockwa route. But that was expensive for just 2 weeks. I check with the marinas near me. Seaford Yacht Club had a couple of transient slips. I could get into one of those for $5/night plus $5/day for power. Deal! So Sunday, barring the storms that look to be brewing, I will be taking the boat to Seaford Yacht Club.
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