Insegrevious is now moored comfortably in a permanent slip at Shilshole Marina here in Seattle. We had planned to haul her out and store her on the hard over the winter, expecting that our slip assignment from the Shilshole waiting list would not come up until late winter at the earliest. We also figured that would give us an opportunity to figure out and fix some of the persistent leaks we have experienced since Shearwater. That fell through, however, when I phoned the boatyard in Port Townsend and found out that they have a year-long waiting list for dry boat storage. That surprised me a bit, since there seems to be plenty of room available whenever I drive by there, but it meant we had to come up with alternate plans because the mooring at my parent's place in Port Hadlock is too exposed to the winter storms to be a comfortable place to leave the boat until spring.
When Mandy called Shilshole to check our place on the list, though, it turned out that the long wait was pretty much only for the 34' slips that we had put in for... for a little bit more, there were plenty of 36' slips open. So we took one of those instead, and got not only a protected slip for the winter, but hopefully a permanent home. We went up and grabbed the boat in mid-September and sailed her down without incident. The haul-out will have to wait.
Interestingly, however, the leak rates seem to have diminished since we have had her down here. I go down and check on her every couple of weeks, and there has been considerably less water in the bilge than over the same period of time late last summer. I have no idea why, but expect it's probably some combination of slime growing on the hull and encroaching on whatever gaps there may be, or the fiberglass expanding somehow. I had thought that was something that only happened with wooden boats, but someone said that fiberglass can also soak up water to some extent and expand. Can't say if that is true for sure or not but if so it would explain things pretty well... she was out of the water and well dried-out in Shearwater, so if the glass contracted it would explain why there were leaks suddenly when she went back in where there were no leaks before; and it would explain why now, after a few months back in, the leaks are disappearing again.
There are a number of things we need to take care of before next spring. Most important, the bow pulpit needs to be repaired. During a storm just before Labor Day, she came loose from her mooring somehow and in the process the bow pulpit got bent up and the forward stanchions broken off. One of the screws holding the bow plate in also sheared off. I'm going to have to drill that out (something I just love doing), but we'll need a welder to put the stanchions back together. They actually separated from the plates mounted on the deck, which concerns me a bit--does that mean all the stanchions are weak there? The rest are designed somewhat differently, but I'm a little worried about them now. Anyway, we're getting the pulpit welded back together this week. I'll be able to remount it when I finally get the damn screw out.
The interior woodwork is in terribly rough shape and Mandy will need to put some serious time into refinishing it. A lot of our tools, spares, and gear are corroded or damaged and it all needs to be sorted out, and what can be salvaged will have to be cleaned, and what can't will have to be replaced. The exhaust mixing elbow on the engine looks to be developing a leaking rust spot and will need to be replaced. It's been dripping on one of the engine mounts, so that will have to be checked and possible replaced. The transmission, as always, needs to be rebuilt, but I'm still not sure that's going to be in the cards, financially speaking, anytime soon. I've noticed the water pump failing intermittently, so that will need to be torn apart and fixed or replaced. And all this is just the short list that I can come up with off the top of my head; I'm sure there is a lot more that will reveal itself once I start seriously investigating things.
But for now we're happy to tarp her up and take a few months off from boat stuff. With the economy the way it is, it's time to focus on business. We're happy to have a spot at Shilshole finally, though, which should make it all much more worthwhile. We put a lot of time into the boat the last few years, but it was always difficult to get out on the Sound and do much sailing, and impossible on the spur of the moment, dealing with the Locks and bridge opening restrictions. It will be much easier now to take advantage of those random nice sailing days that pop up all summer long. And we'll avoid a lot of the strain on the engine and transmission that narrow channels and obstacles have engendered.
Considering the economy, and our impending nuptials, it's difficult to imagine any significant trips next summer (unless some combination of the two seemingly unrelated events militates a no-frills do-it-yourself honeymoon). That being the case, we may not haul-out at all next year, saving it for some time when it would be necessary anyway prior to a prolonged trip.
I imagine the San Juans or Gulf Islands will be as far north as we get next summer, although Mandy has made some noise about the Washington coast. Really, though, it all seems too far away right now to think much about, so we aren't.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
