No Serenity in 2009

In 2008 I was out of town for work a good part of the summer, and we had some problems with the marina management, so there was virtually no sailing done aboard Serenity. Such was the experience, that we decided to not even launch in 2009. In fact, the boat didn't even get out from under the winter cover.

We spent the summer camping, Geocaching, hiking, and other mostly land-based activities. The little bit of sailing I did was aboard other boats. Some work was done on Serenity, however, since there are always projects.

Launch Day 2008

On the morning of June 22, Serenity was hooked up to the truck and dragged down to the marina.

The motor was mounted on the new heavy duty bracket.

We tried backing the truck up as much as possible, but it was not nearly enough to float the boat, with the 2 foot draft and the big 15" tires.

We once again had to resort to using the long rope trick. The boat was pulled ahead until the trailer tires were just out of the water. The wheels were blocked, and the truck detached. That is a scary situation.

You can see how much further out the boat has to go to get into deep enough water.

When the boat was launched for the first time, in 2006, I forgot to take off the straps securing the boat to the trailer. This time it was the centerboard. I forgot to tie it off in the up position, so it had dropped down an caught up in a trailer cross member.

To fix this, I had to get to the boat. We couldn't pull it close enough to the dock, so the dinghy had to be inflated so that I coulid row out.

To the rescue!

Off and clear.

Now the mast can be stepped, the boat rigged, and the sailing season started.

A Dry 2007

There were a few jobs I wanted to get done to Serenity before launching. In April the winter cover came off, and preparations were begun.

Then in May there was another sprinkling of snow, following by a bay full of pack ice. It was not the best weather for working outside, or going boating.

Last year, when unstepping the mast, there was a minor disaster where the main halyard winch was broken, some damage was done the the companionway slider, and the engine propeller got bent. Since the jib halyard winch did not have a handle, it served little purpose, so this was a good time to remove them from the mast, and start thinking about routing all the lines to the cockpit.

Also on the mast, the plastic slug gate needed to be replaced, so I cut a new one out of a sheet of galvanized steel. Keeping the slides running smoothly, and not falling out every time the sail was dropped, had been a nuisance problem since owning the boat. It was now June.

For the rest of the summer, free time on adequate days, was spent under the boat with a grinder on the iron keel. Once down to bare metal, it was painted in POR-15. Two coats were recommended, but it was too cold for it.

Now into November, it was time to put the tarp back on for the winter. So, for the entire summer of 2007, Serenity was on the hard at the back of my driveway.

All Good Things

By the middle of October the time had come to haul Serenity out of the water and start preparing the boat for the oncoming winter. Getting it back on the trailer was a challenge, but we eventually managed it. Using the same rope method devised at launching, we pulled it out of the water.

The boat was going to need some work, like a new outboard bracket, and some rust protection for the keel, which was looking pretty bad.

The mast had to be lowered before towing the boat home, so I set about to get everything ready.

I had two friends coming by to help me lower the mast. Since one of them was the owner of the tow vehicle, none was hooked up. Since the boat was going home, all my blocks were there. This meant that the boat was just resting on two wheels and the jack.

It was quite a surprise when just as the mast was about halfway down the bow tipped up and the stern dropped down, driving the outboard and propeller in to the dirt. I started to move forward to rebalance the boat, but it was too late. In the commotion, the mast got dropped the last couple of feet, breaking the main halyard winch, and damaging the companionway slider. The outboard and bracket were also damaged. The propeller and bracket arms were bent.

There was an important lesson to carry over the winter. Always have the boat trailer properly secured before attempting to raise or lower the mast. At least no people were hurt, and the boat made it home with no further incidents. The next warm day it was to be covered over, winterized, and set aside until spring.