Boat Has A BooBoo

Yesterday was haulout day, a cold and blustery day, but our boat was hauled. However, while it was hanging in the slings, we noticed a big crack fore and aft of the keel (this is starting to sound vaguely reminiscent of 1999, which is another story entirely). But before jumping to conclusions, like how water wouldn't cause a fracture like that, you're right. It wouldn't. But a submerged article would and could. And that is now our confirmed suspicion.

Let's travel back in time.

It was July 24th, and the third day of our summer vacation. We had already spent two days traveling on Georgian Bay, and were on our third day. This day would have us sailing for 7 hours to our ultimate destination, Killarney. The weather was overcast, it was windy, and we spent much of the trip motor sailing through rain bursts. We were in about 240 feet of water, when we heard a loud THUD and felt the boat shake. My Sweetie and I looked at each other in shock, trying to make sense of this (since water doesn't THUD). Now, sometimes when sailing, wind from the stern can be flukey, and cause the sail to jibe and make a hard snapping sound. Seriously, that is what we thought it was. It had crossed our minds to have the boat lifted once we go to Killarney, but they were still dealing with the after effects of a huge storm that had passed through there the previous week, and the travel lifts were not operating (in fact most establishments were still trying to resume power and re-engage docks that had floated away. It was not an emergency. We were not taking on any water, and so we dismissed any idea that we could have possibly hit something, and continued with our holiday. From time to time, we would discuss what had happened, but that was all.

Fast forward to yesterday.

After witnessing the cracks in the hull, we certainly have different thoughts about the whole thing. That bad storm in the area must have dislodged something....a huge log or tree or a picnic table or even, I cringed, a dead body (but that's too gross to even consider).

So now, we play the waiting game.

Wait until we can talk to the insurance people about this.

Wait until the boat can be inspected.

Wait to see if any of the ribs are cracked, because if they are, they are not easily repaired, and the boat could be considered a total write-off at that point.

So, our season has now come to a crashing end, and our minds are swirling with what-ifs. But despite all of that, we can still look back on last summer, and know that it was a pretty good sailing season. We visited some splendid places, linked up with old friends, and made new ones.

Now if we could only put a big band-aid to fix the booboo, we would be very happy.