We dropped the mooring in Stuart on May 12 and made our way up the river to Indiantown. The ACE was in the process of dredging the channel. We dodged numerous barges on the way. The lock was its usual fun. We locked thru with 4 other boats. The captain received his usual scolding from the lockmaster for being so pokey, which set him off. It was a long hot day on the river. Once in Indiantown we tied up to the facedock and turned on the fans! We had taken the car to the Marina a couple of days earlier. We schlepped stuff from the boat and filled the car. Cleaning Light Reach for the summer is a multiple day task. Scheduled to come out at 10:00 AM the following day, we spent the night on the dock. The bugs drove us inside as soon as the sun went down, thank goodness we have port screens!

Haul out went remarkably well. Scott and the travel lift operators maneuvered the boat around the corner into the well with ropes. Her bottom wasn't too bad and before noon she was in her spot in the yard where she'll spend the summer. We took the load of boat stuff to the condo where both of us managed to find places to store it. We returned the next day to finish the job. All the canvas was removed, lockers emptied washed down with vinegar, bug traps laid out, ports closed and covered, thru hulls closed, stuffing put in all the orifices bugs and bees love to inhabit, wheel and all teak covered. It's exhausting just insuring it's all done. We settled up with the office and with remarkable optimism made reservations for the work yard come the end of October and a launch date a week later.

The picture is one of the dredges we passed coming up the river.