I Formally Declare It To Be Winter! BRRRRRRRR!!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

My friend Russ and I went down to Captain's Cove Seaport and emptied ABISHAG, 90-95%. It took about 2 1/2 hours and I am glad we did it while the boat was still in the water at the dock. Four milk crates of books, two large duffles of clothes, a couple of baskets of tools, and assorted bags of food and other stores. The good part of this will be that I have a second shot at doing a culling of this stuff before it goes back into the boat come the Spring. It all got hauled and stuffed back into the garage. It was a long day.

I helped move ABISHAG to the travel lift and she got hauled out and we got a look at the bottom. The good news: the rudder is fine, the prop is perfect . . . it is still shiny. Bad news: at both the front corner and back corner of the keel the fiberglass was busted open. There was also a 2 foot gash in the fiberglass along the port side of the keel and some significant scuffing along the very bottom of the keel. It looks like several Marine Units of fiberglass work but nothing really serious. It could have been worse. It could have been better. As it is, it is what it is and I'll let the Insurance Company and the Captain's Cove Seaport Boat Shop work everything out. They have several month (sigh) until ABISHAG hits the water on May 1st ad I am sure that everything will turn out just fine.

I talked with the Yard Boss and they will winterize the boat tomorrow. That will be 4 Marine Units and counting. It is going to be an expensive winter and I'll be spending money I don't have in a place I didn't necessarily want to be. (Sigh)

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Winter has come. When the keel of my boat leaves the water, it is Winter. It really didn't bother me as much to see the damage this time as it did the last time. I guess that I had come the the conclusion a lot early that the trip was over for this year and so it didn't hurts as much. I get to spend the next fee months planning again and trying to locate a source for more Marine Units. Sometime I am going to have to come up with another deductible (3 Marine Units) which will be do when the work is done. Maybe it is Powerball Ticket Time.