Ch. 8: We Made It!

We Made It!

On Day Two, we went from St. Augustine to Fernandina Beach.  Then Day Three was Fernandina Beach to Brunswick, Georgia.  We discovered that the weather on the first day was the norm:  no wind in the morning, filling in around noon, gradually strengthening, and then storms and rain in the late afternoon/evening.  Fortunately, the storms never approached anything like Day One.  Also fortunately, after a fresh water flush and drying out, our shore power lines were working again.  Hope was returning!  However, we did motor the entire way.  We motorsailed a bit on Day Two, but that was it.  I had envisioned this as something of a vacation.  It was very much NOT a vacation.  Kim was right and I was wrong (I never do seem to retain this fact.):  we needed to view it as a yacht delivery, not a cruise.  Lesson learned.

We made it to Brunswick and commenced with getting Destiny ready for haul-out and storage.  We removed the sails, lazy jacks, bimini, and electronics.  I called the yard to confirm our haul time. 

The Yard: Be here at eight AM.

Me: No problem. 

The Yard: You’ll need to remove the backstay.

Me: No problem.

The Yard: Try to mark the sling positions.

Me: No problem.

The Yard: And you’ll need to back in to the haul-out slip. 

Me: Excuse me??!!

This seemed like a bridge too far.  We managed to get this unknown, 37-year-old boat from Florida to Georgia, weathering a grounding and 3 storms and now you want me to BACK this 47-foot, 16-ton boat into a slip I’ve never seen before?  That is just not right!  OH THE INJUSTICE OF IT ALL!! I slept really well that night.

Anyway, at 7:30 the next day, we left our slip and spent 20 minutes motoring around in reverse, trying to get a feel for how she handled going backwards.  And away we went to the haul-out slip.  I have to say, I was pretty proud of us. We managed to get into the slip without incident, even getting some compliments from the yard crew.  Ninety-six hours of boat ownership-we were pros!

The haul-out went smoothly.  We went to grab a bite to eat and when we returned, Destiny had had her bottom power-washed and was on jack stands in the yard.  We spent the rest of the day in a feverish rush to get her laid up.  I flushed the engine cooling system with anti-freeze, put some biocide in the fuel tank, emptied the water tank, took off the stanchions, and covered her with a makeshift tarp, since we knew the portlights leaked.  She was as snug as we could make her.

Exhausted, we drove to the airport and headed home to Texas, not knowing when we would see our future home again. Or IF we WANTED to see her again.

Is “re-discernment” a word???