Haul Out Day

The day began with wind and FOG  and stayed overcast most all day.  AND it was delightfully cooler!  

After checking the weather report and finding some waves at 6 feet we knew we would be staying here another night.  Thankfully, it was not too windy in our harbor for the haul out to take place.

Here, Miss gg, is headed for the lift.

The Captain is piloting her into the lift slings

Each side of the boat is marked for exact placement of the  aft slings to prevent damage to the prop shafts.  The lift operator must get it right.

Slings finally adjusted and lift begins.

34,000+ pounds going up!

All the way up and moving onto land and our first anxious look at the bottom.

Walter gets a close look at the props and shafts.

Prop: The blue color is the paint and the orange is the primer but even the primer is gone from the tips of this one prop.  We expected this after nearly getting out of the narrow channel and churning up some sand on the short cut we took to St. Michael's, MD.  Nothing bent! Whew!

The Mechanic then came and quickly fixed the stuffing box for the port rudder shaft and left some stuffing with Walter in case the other one should start leaking.  We praised God nothing else was wrong with our good ship.

Miss gg coming off blocks and going back over the water

Going down

Just before she got all the way down Walter and I “walked the (wobbly) plank” to get into the boat.  It was held for us by one of the lift guys who mentioned something about shark infested waters below!

Back out of the lift and heading for the fuel dock.  Much cheaper fuel here than in Chicago so we took advantage of this. 

Weather report is good for tomorrow and we are pretty excited as our friends, Cherie & Larry from Ohio are driving to Chicago tomorrow to be with us on Miss gg for a couple of days! Wahoo!