We're OTH

Taking it all in stride.

On The Hard.  Well the boat is anyway.  Bruce and I (and the cats) have been graciously offered the guest suite in the home of our Daughter and her husband while our boat is out of water for repairs.

Since buying our boat, there has been an intermittent vibration in the prop shaft in certain situations.  Ignoring it has not helped so we're going to try investigating possible causes... starting with a new cutless bearing.  Our boat also has a set of spurs on the shaft which are supposed to keep line from wrapping around and stopping the prop.  If they are working correctly, they will cut the line as it wraps around the shaft, should we accidentally hit a net or line while under way.  Our spurs probably need new zincs and spacers.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  If you're looking for technical boat stuff, don't look here.  Our morning began in a total fog.

We only had about three miles to travel between our anchorage and the Sailor's Wharf Yacht Yard where we would be hauling the boat.  The fog delay was no problem today.  The boat had been perfectly still all through the night and we were enjoying the peace and quiet of being fogged in.

Polishing the stainless.

Bruce spent his morning doing little boat projects like polishing the stainless.  This is a job that he enjoys luckily because I decidedly do NOT.

I did some blogging and made us a delicious breakfast that we enjoyed al Fresco just as the cool fingers of another dense fog clutched at our tiny self contained world.

Once the breakfast dishes were done and some light housekeeping finished, we found the fog lifting and prepared to get underway.

We said farewell to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge just as she woke up and prepared for another work day.  We will be seeing her again very soon.

Bruce had to pull the anchor up manually because our windlass is on the fritz.  Long story, but it's another of the things we will be having serviced while the boat is out.

Just like that we were heading out into Tampa Bay.  And we were in SHORTS and T-SHIRTS!

I couldn't help but grin like an idiot the whole way.  The fog disappeared as we rounded the tip of land that is St. Petersburg.

The Bay was littered with power boats and other sailboats... And their sails were up!  We turned the corner and Bruce was finally able to fly a jib.  the winds were so light and we had such a short distance to go, he didn't bother with the main.

What a gorgeous day!  We couldn't believe that just a couple of days ago we were cold and wet.  The last two months of winter were magically gone and we  were thrilled.

The City of St. Pete came into view and we remembered that it was just over two years ago that we visited here by car.  We were boat shopping and hadn't yet sold our CS36.  Bruce fell in love with St. Petersburg and vowed to come here some day on our own boat.  And here we are!  This is one vow we are keeping!

All too soon, our day on the Bay was at an end and we turned towards Salt Creek.  We heard a loud BOOM!!! and turned to see this Schooner behind a puff of cannon smoke!  How cool is that???

I brought Dos Libras slowly into the narrow creek along with a parade of small power boats buzzing in and out.  The winds were very light back up in the creek which made docking super easy.  We tied up and ended our day watching the boats go by from the vantage point of our veranda once again.

The people at Sailor's Wharf were so nice to let us dock and hook up to power for the night.  So far, our experience with them has been above and beyond any other we've used... let's hope that continues to the end of this haul out.

We had all of Monday morning to get ourselves and the boat ready for her time in the yard.  We cleaned and packed and moved things around so that the workmen could access the systems we needed fixed, including the water maker.

Our boat came with a water maker "available but not installed" (as the broker put it).  What does that mean?  We're about to find out!  Keep your fingers crossed that it isn't bad news...

Just after lunch, we were called to bring the boat into the bay where the slings waited to lift us out.

It was no problem getting in and Steve had a remote control to work the lift that was really cool.

We we grabbed the last of our gear while Steve brought the bow gently to the front of the bay where we could easily step right off.  He made it look like he's done this before!

They lifted our boat out of the water as Bruce watched nervously, hoping to see nothing unpleasant.  It's been quite a while since we've been in water warm enough for him to dive on the boat so we could find... well who knows what!?

The keel cleared the water's surface and we saw that there was some shell growth along the edges.  Why is there growth in these spots and not others?  No idea.  I guess some of those brushes with sand have scraped off the bottom paint that discourages shell growth, leaving the little buggers with an opportunity.

Once the boat was out, we had the chance to take a closer look.  Bruce went over the prop and shaft with Steve.  The initial examination was favorable.  But we'll have to wait for a more in depth assessment.

Steve gave the bottom a once over with the power washer.  A lot of the shell growth came off with just the high pressure sprayer.  He also took a scraper to some spots.  There was a critter building a home inside the through hull that drains the forward sink.  I've had problems with it draining for WEEKS!  Now we know why!

We are relieved and very happy that our bottom is in such good shape after a year.  We will probably go ahead and have the yard re-paint the spots that need it while we're out.

We left the guys blocking the boat up for her stay here and retired, with two very confused felines, to our temporary home... on the hard.