Back in the water

We got the call from the boatyard telling us that their travel lift was fixed and we could go back in the water today. Thankfully everything went smoothly and as planned. We went in the water and took a test ride. Everything feels great.

The travel lift with new pistons, liners, and head gasket.

Ready to splash

Cracker Boy Boatworks

We knew that Palm Beach was one of the worst areas for marine growth on boat hulls. We were starting to see a lot of growth on the hull, and barnacles on the thrusters, so we decided to haul the boat to clean the bottom. We went to Cracker Boy Boatworks which is right next to the Riviera Beach Municipal Marina where we are keeping the boat for the winter. 

The bottom wasn't too bad considering we painted it 3 years ago. We had quite a few bare spots from hitting logs on the Mississippi River. The thrusters were covered with barnacles. The prop & cutlass bearing were in great shape.

We had the bottom power washed & wet sanded. Al stripped the running gear & trim tabs down to bare metal. He then applied a metal etch & then 2 coats of primer. I scraped all the barnacles off the thrusters. He then painted everything with Pettit Trinidad Pro in Yacht Red. 

We had the hull cleaned and waxed. Al saw some cracks around the bow thruster tube, so we had that repaired.

Everything was going great until Wednesday 3/4/15. We were ready to go back in the water. We went to the boat yard, only to find out that the motor on the travel lift blew up. They have another lift, but it's much larger & can't fit where we are. The yard thought they could put our boat on a trailer to move it to a clear spot where the big lift could pick us up & put us in the water. The trailer was brand new & never used before. They were trying it out on our boat. After watching the fiasco for over an hour, it was obvious that this trailer couldn't safely move our boat. Al told them to stop! We thought it was much wiser to stay on land until the travel lift is fixed, instead of risking major damage to our boat trying to get back in the water. We were told that the lift would be fixed Saturday, but we can't go in the water until next Tuesday because everything is now backed up. Thank goodness we have the condo to live in & the yard isn't charging us to stay on land.

We came out of the water 2/26/15

Al cleaning the running gear

Etched, primed & painted

Hooper worked very hard on the boat & needed a break

The hull didn't shine this good when it was new.

Fiberglass guy fixing cracks around the bow thruster tube.

They though they could put our boat on this trailer.

They tried for over an hour to get the boat on the trailer

They tried for over an hour to get the boat on the trailer, but it didn't look safe. The trailer 

wasn't able to support our boat in the right places, so we were picturing the hull cracking or 

the boat falling off the trailer. We couldn't take watching the fiasco and told them to stop. 

We'll stay on land until the travel lift is fixed.