On the Hard
03 June 2009 | Port Charlotte, Florida
Brian
We woke up early to head to Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage a three hour motor in very shallow water. On the water over we are met by some dolphin inside the bay and one in particular stays with us for quite a ways. The boat storage is within an area that has many shallow waterways with each home having their own dock. As we enter the South Gulf Cove housing track we have to pass through a self-serve lock. You put up your boat to a small dock and pull down a chain. A dock door opens and you move your vessel into the small lock. You then pull another chain and the lock closes the door and fills with more water. Once the lock has equalized the other lock door opens and you pass through to the fresh water with many shallow channels lined with beautiful homes (we priced some of the homes at $210k for three bedrooms on the water). We had to navigate for eight miles through this shallow maze. Four Points draft is 5'6" and most of the water here is six feet deep. As we were rounding our last corner for the final stretch to the boat storage I miss read some channel markers and ran hard aground.
I quickly called Sea Tow and gave them my position but it was going to take an hour & a half before they could get to us. I flagged down a small fishing boat and a great guy named Bud attempted to pull us out of the mud. After many attempts we realized we weren't going to get unstuck with Bud's small fishing boat. Sea Tow arrived and after another many attempts got us free from the sticky mud. After all the sailing and miles we have covered to be stuck so close to our final destination was frustrating. But one thing we have learned is to take things as they come and keep a good attitude.
We tied up at Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage at five o'clock in the afternoon and Nancy's parents had just arrived. We secured the boat and headed for our temporary home in Venice which is a forty minute drive north.
The next day we drop & stored the sails and the boat was pulled and jacked into place. We have a couple of days of hard work ahead of us securing the boat for hurricane season. We purchased a de-humidifier to reduce the moisture inside the boat and dropped the wind generator to secure as much as possible but we have a lot of work ahead of us. We will take the next six months to re-start Four Points, cleaning, painting, varnishing, and repairing generally getting ready to hit the seas again in December.