I never made it to work yesterday. The call came, our boat was coming out of the water at 11:00 AM so we jumped in the car and headed to South Shore Marine. No one was moving our baby if I wasn’t there to watch. It was my first time with our first boat, nothing was cheating me out of the experience and like having a first child, I snapped a memory card load of pictures.
It was bitter sweet to see her hauled. The weather was glorious, so sunny it heated my back as if branded with an iron. Although hubby said it would be cold I was too over dressed and I wanted to shed instead of layer my clothing.
It is sad to see the end of the sailing season, especially when this fine weather keeps us lulled into a false sense of permanence. Today was a great day for a sail, not strip her down to the bare bones and put her on the hard. When we left the mooring we puttered around the marina before docking at the wharf, checking out the other Nonsuches still bobbing up and down. We saw a new one to the area, a 30 footer with a blue hull called Isadora, sail stripped and also waiting to be hauled out. Nonsuches like to be around others of their kind, we meet in groups, have an organization all our own and rendezvous each year. Shawn, the owner of South Shore Marine said that Nonsuch boats make up 10% of the fleet of the marina. Not bad considering there are only about 975 Nonsuches boats ever built with all lengths totaled. The 33’s, like our Catalyst, is one out of only 67 ever launched. Pretty impressive that in the entire world we own a boat that is almost as rare as unicorns.
After a quick motor around the anchorage, we headed to the wharf to await our turn on the travel lift. After lunch, she came out of the water mishap free. They power washed her bottom to remove the sea growth and then was trucked into position in the boat yard next to the hundreds of vessels already there. It was like a sea of white as far as the eye could see, only now and then interspersed with a coloured hull. I couldn’t help but feel sad for them all, emptied of their interior accoutrements, drained of their fluids and draped with a canvas cover, it give the impression of a fiberglass graveyard. All in all it was a very interesting day, the process of removal is well practiced and slick.
Our boat is going to need some serious work this fall and next year before launching. She’s been crying, leaking fresh water tears into the cabin. We've been putting down a tray in the cabin to collect the rain until we could get her out of the water to fix the problem. We need to take off all the stanchions and cabin roof hatches to replace gaskets. Water leaked on the cabin floor and ruined a patch of the teak and holly sole before we bought her and that same drip is haunting us. Now water is coming down behind the galley cupboards and navigation table area. Age seems synonymous with leaking, been having a few problems myself, but that depends on if I sneeze or not, and then it’s just Depends. Nothing is serious, it can all be fixed with a bit of hard work. It's all part of boat ownership.
Catalyst is 27 so I can’t expect her to be perfect, but we can do our best so she ages gracefully. We are the type of people that will take extra special care so she lasts most of our lifetime, until we are too old and crippled to manage her needs, and then we’ll sell her and spend the rest of our days pining for her like a long, lost love.
It was bitter sweet to see her hauled. The weather was glorious, so sunny it heated my back as if branded with an iron. Although hubby said it would be cold I was too over dressed and I wanted to shed instead of layer my clothing.
It is sad to see the end of the sailing season, especially when this fine weather keeps us lulled into a false sense of permanence. Today was a great day for a sail, not strip her down to the bare bones and put her on the hard. When we left the mooring we puttered around the marina before docking at the wharf, checking out the other Nonsuches still bobbing up and down. We saw a new one to the area, a 30 footer with a blue hull called Isadora, sail stripped and also waiting to be hauled out. Nonsuches like to be around others of their kind, we meet in groups, have an organization all our own and rendezvous each year. Shawn, the owner of South Shore Marine said that Nonsuch boats make up 10% of the fleet of the marina. Not bad considering there are only about 975 Nonsuches boats ever built with all lengths totaled. The 33’s, like our Catalyst, is one out of only 67 ever launched. Pretty impressive that in the entire world we own a boat that is almost as rare as unicorns.
After a quick motor around the anchorage, we headed to the wharf to await our turn on the travel lift. After lunch, she came out of the water mishap free. They power washed her bottom to remove the sea growth and then was trucked into position in the boat yard next to the hundreds of vessels already there. It was like a sea of white as far as the eye could see, only now and then interspersed with a coloured hull. I couldn’t help but feel sad for them all, emptied of their interior accoutrements, drained of their fluids and draped with a canvas cover, it give the impression of a fiberglass graveyard. All in all it was a very interesting day, the process of removal is well practiced and slick.
Our boat is going to need some serious work this fall and next year before launching. She’s been crying, leaking fresh water tears into the cabin. We've been putting down a tray in the cabin to collect the rain until we could get her out of the water to fix the problem. We need to take off all the stanchions and cabin roof hatches to replace gaskets. Water leaked on the cabin floor and ruined a patch of the teak and holly sole before we bought her and that same drip is haunting us. Now water is coming down behind the galley cupboards and navigation table area. Age seems synonymous with leaking, been having a few problems myself, but that depends on if I sneeze or not, and then it’s just Depends. Nothing is serious, it can all be fixed with a bit of hard work. It's all part of boat ownership.
Catalyst is 27 so I can’t expect her to be perfect, but we can do our best so she ages gracefully. We are the type of people that will take extra special care so she lasts most of our lifetime, until we are too old and crippled to manage her needs, and then we’ll sell her and spend the rest of our days pining for her like a long, lost love.
 Securing the wishbone boom. |  Lifting out the mast. |
The mast is removed by a crane and laid out horizontally on the saw horses. It will be store in a building for winter. Look up, way up!
She is hoisted out of the water by the travel lift slings. My heart was pounding at this point as she swayed and creaked in the heavy canvas straps.
Power washing removes all the barnacles and sea life that likes to attach to the hull. The bottom paint came off as well so that means less work for us to sand it down in the spring before we apply new bottom paint.
More sea life on the propeller. Looks like a dogs breakfast. The prop will need cleaning and a new tip is to coat it with Udder Cream to prevent future buildup.
She's on the move to the boat yard, swinging to and fro.
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