Bock Marine - NOT My Favorite Place! (Well maybe!)

Wednesday June 5, 2013
34 49.432 N
76 41.373 W

It's 1:30 PM, we just tied up at Bock, waiting fr the travel lift to pull us out. I employed a diver to clean and inspect the hull in Charleston and he reported that Tide Hiker had a big "blister" on the port stabilizer. So we have decided to pull in here to have it investigated. Not that Bock is my favorite place - quite the contrary - but sometimes "the devil you know etc..."

The black is stinking slimy mud

This morning we were up at 6 AM and underway 20 minutes later. We had arranged a "guaranteed" opening of the Onslow bridge at 7 AM and it was about 3 miles away. The anchor came up OK, but the chain was as filthy as I have ever seen. What a mess. I just could not put it into the locker the way it arrived and the dlay hosing it down was threatening the bridge schedule. But we made it OK and so made an early appearance here at Bock

On the way we called some friends who were renovating a boat in this area and they plan to pop in this afternoon which we be some compensation. At the moment we are just waiting for the crane.

We were hoisted out at 2:30 PM and after a quick inspection decided to stay and get the fin repaired. There are several large "bubbles" on the fin where the fiberglass has de-laminated. The question now is "Can we get out of here quickly so we can maintain our schedule to the wedding in Chicago?"

Thursday June 6, 2013

The fin was removed first thing this morning and taken to the fiberglass shop. It is badly de-laminated. The "fiberglassman" has removed several large chunks of the surface. he says it has been repaired before - but not well. The yard is doing a great job getting this organized - I am impressed.

The fin coming off

The weather is adding another complication. Tropical Storm ANDREA has formed in the Gulf and is heading this way with heavy rain and 45 MPH wind. It should arrive here tomorrow evening, and so to some extent I am glad we are not on the water.

Deidre and I popped in on the glass man this afternoon. he had finished the first stage of the repair. he will let it "cure" tonight and complete the repair in the AM.

The de-lamination

Friday June 7, 2013

If you look carefully, the yellow bit will go right over us tomorrow night.

It rained pretty hard last night and its very windy today. I suspect we are seeing gusts over 50 MPH. It's noisy in here with all the yacht rigging 'singing" in the wind. Work in the yard is pretty much at a standstill, but the stabilizer fin did come back from the yard and is now installed. My opinion of BOCK MARINE has improved a lot. The plan is to put us back in the water tomorrow morning.