It's a Boat
19 November 2016 | Grenada
Hot, Humid, and rainy
Like a young boy anxiously waiting for Christmas morning to see what Santa has hidden under the tree, I watch as Mile High Dream is being placed in the water. Arriving four days earlier, I have been prepping and getting her ready to be splashed for this years cruising season. The days have been long, hot and humid. After sweating thru three t shirts, I call it a day and headed back to my air conditioned hotel room. Finally I think I have enough projects finished that I felt it is time to go in the water.
The small crack between the keel and bottom had been repaired and all looks good.
“Where is the key to the ignition?” I asked my self. “It was in the ignition when I left the boat last spring.”
I head up to the office to ask if they had taken it. They walk over to their key board and bring back the key to open up the boat. “This is the only one we have. Let me call the people that were looking after it while you were gone.”
She calls and tell me they should be here in a few minutes. I meet the person downstairs and he says “I think I remember something about it.”
He searches the boat and then calls his office. I give them a description of the key fob it was attached to and they look through their bag of miscellaneous keys.
“She thinks she has found it and will bring it over.” He replies.
This was not how I wanted my day to start. The key does arrive and it is for my boat. Who knows how it ended up at the office in the key cemetery.
The host is now picking up Mile High Dream and taking her near the water where a larger lift will raise her up and drop her in the bay.
Down she goes into the water while I am on board ready to start the engine and motor away.
“Did you check the bilge?” asks the dockhand.
“No, I will go do that.”
This is not good, it is full of water. I look over to my control board and see that I have not turned the switch on to auto. Switched flipped and it is slowly sucking out the water. This sure is taking a long time. I go above and tell them it is pumping out and to wait for a few minutes. Finally the bilge is empty…. for about thirty seconds and the pump kicks back on.
“Where is the water coming from?” the dock hands ask. “Is it salt water or fresh water?”
Yeah, like I am going to dip my hand in dirty, oily, filthily bilge water and taste it to see if it is fresh or salt water.
I check all the thru hulls, the shaft, the rudder post and everything looks dry. I start taking up the floor boards to get a better look at the inside of the hull. Water is definitely coming in from somewhere.
They pull the boat up to see where the water is leaking out. Then they put it in the water to see how it fills up, and then they lift it back out. Lew my friend who is helping me says “It looks like they think your boat is a tea bag and they are dunking it in and out.”
Out of the water comes Mile High Dream. The keel fix did not work. Once the boat was lifted up, the weight of the keel just pulled it apart. The boat is placed on stands and the weight is taken off the keel. New heavier duty epoxy is filled in the hole and now we let it sit.
Maybe Monday we will try it again.
My Christmas morning dreams have been dashed. All I got were socks and underwear.