It's that time of year

After an absolutely beautiful summer, it's now time to start getting the boat ready for haulout. This is not a small endeavor, as it is not a small vessel......36 feet and 16000 pounds. There is planning involved and timing as well.

Now, for people who are not in the know, we need to do many smaller tasks leading up to haulout. We need to offload any freezables and perishables, remove the bedding and clothing, drain the water tanks and winterize them, pump the head and winterize it, top up the fuel, remove the sails and fold them, remove the dinghy and store, remove the dinghy motor and get winterized, remove and store the kayak, and I am sure there are things that I am forgetting, but basically, most of the contents of the boat get removed.

Once all of the tasks are complete, we book a date in order to get on the list to have the marina haul the boat. They have a huge travel lift and literally, the boat gets lifted out of the water.

Once the boat is out of the water, it has to be covered. Another job. The cover is a two piece cover, altered, since it weighed too much as one piece.

None of these jobs take a half hour. Firstly, we are at the end of the dock in a channel slip, so it is a long walk to the car (and we do have a car not a van, which means a few more trips to wherever). And add in the socializing and shmoozing (the fun part).

Oh! And factor in the weather! The ever present weather. In the past, we have done these jobs in the rain, howling winds, snow, heat, you name it. Mixed bag. Also factor in beautiful weather. Nothing is harder than doing any of this during sweltering heat, like the late summers that we used to get.

Bottom line is that we have to be out of the water by the end of October.

Then we start to count down the months til launch!