Sandpiper being lifted out |
After our visitors left
it was time to have Sandpiper hauled out of the water so that her bottom could
be cleaned and antifouled ready for the new season. This was the first time we had been on board
for a haul out and the prospect of our boat being lifted and manoeuvred on two straps
was quite daunting. Thankfully Tony from Reveller offered to come with us,
which was reassuring as he’s done it all before.
Moving the boat across the yard |
It was very strange (and
scary) sitting on Sandpiper as she was lifted up by the travel hoist. Once she
was level with the hard we jumped off and watched as the giant hoist moved her
forward and gently swung her round into the yard. As soon as she was chocked up
we were able to go back on board to our new home out of the water. We spent three
days in the yard as they blasted the weed off the hull and then repainted it with
anti-foul. We cleaned and polished
the gel coat on the sides of the boat then I serviced the toilet while Cliff serviced
the sea cocks - such is the romance of life at sea!
Cliff cleaning the mast |
Now we are back on our
mooring and we’ve almost completed the list of jobs we need to do before we
leave. Over the winter we had wind from the Sahara which left the boat covered
in a thick layer of muddy sand, and we knew that at some point we would need to
climb to the top of the mast to clean it out of the mast track. Climbing the
mast is normally my job as I’m not strong enough to hoist Cliff up, but this
time Cliff decided to give it a go using a special climbing device, and it
worked well. It was the first time Cliff had ever been up a mast and he seemed to enjoy it, so that’s one job I’m happy to hand over to him.
Hopefully our next
update will be from a new port…
trying out to see if it works
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