Hayes, VA - Haulout Number Three

Yesterday we arrived at the Severn River Marina which was recommended to us by another couple who owns a Manta and has hauled out here several times. As we were approaching the marina, we radioed them and were given directions on how to get to the slip. Because we are a catamaran and are wider than most boats (21 feet wide versus, say, 13 feet wide for the average sailboat) we usually dock at face docks which are nice long docks where you just come in and tie up only one side, kind of like pulling up to a curb. However, this marina wanted us to pull into a slip (which is like a skinny parking space with two big SUV's on either side). As we approached, the slip started looking pretty narrow so Kevin was frantically hailing them on the VHF to make sure it was wide enough to accommodate our 21-foot beam so we didn't scrape ourselves up on the pilings. No answer. Finally, I just shouted, "Hey -- is the slip at least 22 feet wide?!", and the guy on the dock (who we later learned was named Dan, quite a character) yelled back "Honey, it's twenty-FIVE feet wide!". And in we went, and we only hit one piling (gently, of course!). It was nice to spend a night with the air conditioning on all night. Thank you, almighty Shore Power.

So this morning we got to play an even more exciting game. We had to get the 21-foot-wide boat into a 23-foot-wide travelift. Fun! Luckily there were three guys onshore helping to pull us into the slings, so our boat didn't even touch the sides this time. Yay -- three points! The boat was up in the air before we knew it (they made us get off the boat before they lifted it. Bah! Safety, schmafety!) and one of the guys immediately started pressure washing with a high-powered hose to get all the scum and barnacles off the bottom. Man, it looked so easy considering all the time we spent scrubbing the bottom by hand a couple months ago. (We have uploaded videos of the lift and pressure-wash.) After the wash, they put the boat up on blocks and Kevin and I got to work -- he to change the saildrive seals and replace the saildrive oil; me to repair the many scuffs in our vinyl bootstripe. Both of those items took the rest of the afternoon, including a side trip to Lowe's to buy metric Allan Wrenches (Curse you, Volvo! Crazy metric-obsessed Europeans!) So after a full day, we picked up the rental car and headed to the hotel. Ironically, we didn't know any better when we were booking online, so our hotel is in Hampton which is where we were anchored for the past two nights. Basically we're back where we started. Yeah, we're geniuses.