On the hard!

Sunday August 14, 2016
On the hard.

We have decided to haul Tide Hiker while we are away. This is prime hurricane season and Tide Hiker would be very exposed at Patriot's Point. Plus the diver has started to complain about her bottom, plus we have accumulated lots of minor "war wounds" after cruising for 5 years, so a bit of yard time would be appropriate.

Sunday morning we had breakfast out with friends and then headed off to the boat yard as soon as we returned to the marina. "Slack" was at 1:40 PM and we were moving by about 1:50 PM with just a slight current on our bow as we headed up the Wando for the 10 mile run. The "Charleston City Boat Yard" is located on a pretty part of the river and we both enjoyed the run. We had to slip Tide Hiker by ourselves but all went fine. The yard had promised to haul Tide Hiker first thing Monday.

I hate being hauled, it seems so hard on Tide Hiker, but all went well and we were settled by 10:30 AM Monday. We cannot run the A/C unless we are in the water, so the heat became pretty intense rather quickly.

Once Tide Hiker was out of the water the crew immediately power washed her hull to expose the condition of her underwater hull and paint. After inspecting the hull with the yard manager and a bit of discussion I agreed to have her underwater hull "blasted" to remove the 25+ years accumulation of anti-fouling paint, and give her a fresh start.

The painter also paid us a visit and we showed him our "26 spots" that needed attention. He promised a quote by Tuesday.

By now Deidre and I were both dying from the heat so I found a local B&B and we headed for the air conditioning.