It has been three years since we last had the boat hauled out and recoated the bottom with anti-fouling paint.  Besides the bottom, we always have a list of other projects that we are either unable or unwilling to do ourselves.  Since we’re in the boatyard, we like to take advantage of the skilled people and tools they bring to the tasks.

We returned from Arizona a week or two earlier than we might have otherwise to make sure that we had adequate time for the boatyard but also not delay the start of our cruise.  We left Arizona Sunday, March 13, for the migration and arrived in Bainbridge Island on March 15.  While our cats, Annie & Maggie, do not enjoy the drive, they tolerate it better each trip.  They even use the litter box we’ve provided as we drive along.  Marcia tends to their needs while I drive.

Once on the boat, we checked all the systems to make sure they still worked and got the boat ready for the 36 mile trip to Port Townsend where the work would take place.  Everything was good and we left pre-dawn on Sunday, March 20 to beat the arrival of high winds in the afternoon.  Sure enough the winds were starting to pick up to the upper teens as we docked in Port Townsends Boat Haven shortly before noon.

We were intending to do a sea trial with a couple of people from the boatyard we were using, Port Townsend Shipwrights Coop (PTSC), the next day, Monday, March 21, but the winds were still blowing in the 20’s so we postponed it to the Tuesday morning before our haul out when winds were forecast to be calmer.

Tuesday morning we did the sea trial and got the rudder to make the noise that we wanted the PTSC people to hear.  We then headed into the slip where the travel-lift picked us up in the slings and transported us to the yard where we’d be for the next 15 days. 

It was striking how much stuff had grown on our hull since we last had a diver (about a year ago), clean off our bottom while we were at the dock.  These two photos show the before and after state of approximately the same area near the rudder post and top of the rudder.

Living on the boat on the hard while work is being performed has its pluses and minuses.  On the negative side is the necessity to minimize your onboard water use since we can’t dump anything from our holding tanks.  The positive side is that we can answer questions and make decisions on any issues that come up while the work is being done.  Also, we are able to do boat projects ourselves that would be more difficult while in the water.

We came in pretty close to the budget that PTSC estimated based on the work statement we provided them.  Since we had a lot of “inspect and repair” items, some things ending up being more while others were less.  The biggest unplanned expense was the new driveshaft we had to have fabricated on account of the pit corrosion discovered in ours when it was removed.

Below is a list of the major work (not an exhaustive list) done:

1. Power train inspected and repaired (included new shaft)
2. Steering system inspected and repaired
3. New house bank batteries
4. Bottom painted
5. New chain
6. Regalvanized anchor
7. Rigging inspected and repaired

We were relaunched on April 6 and did a sea trial to make sure everything was still working and the issues we identified addressed.

The next day we headed up to Anacortes to have our furnace serviced.  As we traveled along the west shore of Whidbey Island toward Rosario Strait, we crossed paths with Shearwater, a classic Diesel Duck owned by David Cohn.  He keeps his boat in Anacortes and was heading south for a visit with friends in Poulsbo.  We took advantage of our passing by taking photos of each other.

After a night’s stay in Anacortes, we headed up to Echo Bay on Sucia Island for a couple of nights at anchor.  This gave us a chance to make sure things were working well and ease back into cruising mode.

On Sunday, April 10 we left Sucia Island heading south toward Puget Sound.  Coincidentally, we again encountered Shearwater but this time our directions were reversed and David was making his way back to Anacortes.  Since David, as are we, is returning to SE Alaska this coming season and we expect to meet him even more this summer.

Rather than heading back into Eagle Harbor, we anchored for the night in Port Madison on the north end of Bainbridge Island.  The next day we headed down to Des Moines Marina to top off our fuel tanks for the upcoming cruising season.

Now back in Eagle Harbor at the QCYC outstation, we are devoting ourselves to provisioning and putting the finishing touches on things.  Our plan is to leave around the end of April.