The Nocturne Comes Home

After nine months of no boating, at last yesterday we hauled our sailboat out of the water. Here she is, looking dejected over at our slip off of Green Creek.

Her rub rails are worn, spliced, and need to be replaced.

All of the boat needs a thorough cleaning.

First, Adam got the motor started after nine months of idleness.

The cabin is moldy and filthy and not a place I'd like to spend the night! Our goal is to have a pretty, squeaky-clean, dry little boat that we can take out overnight.

After lunch, Adam headed out.

Out into the creek, under the bridge, and over to Sailcraft Marina and Boatyard.

I drove to Sailcraft to meet him. They were working on one boat's mast, reattaching the foresail to the top.

Adam came chugging in with his outboard set low.

Some gargantuan boats fill this space, and you can see how truly tiny our Cape Dory Typhoon is -- less than 19 feet. She's also quick, responsive, easy to sail, and utterly reliable. I'll take that!

Here's the big lift, overkill for our boat :) The truck and trailer on the other side of the lift will carry our boat across town to our front yard.

Giant slings lift the boat from the water.

There she is! Out of the water for the first time in we-don't-know-how-many years. Her name is not "Nice 'n Easy," by the way. Her name is "Nocturne," and we will make that correction as soon as possible -- one of the jobs to be done to her this winter.

Silly name --

John, who is an interesting character in town, did an excellent job of power-washing the bottom before we took her away.

See? What a difference already. We didn't know what to expect when her bottom was revealed. We got this boat for free from a marina in Washington, NC, from a 91-year-old doctor. How long since he'd hauled her out? Painted her bottom? Done maintenance? We didn't know. Adam says the bottom was in much better condition than he'd expected.

The bottom paint is pretty toxic, and we didn't want this initial spraying done in our front yard. When Adam scrapes off the paint, he'll do it over a tarp.

She goes onto a trailer.

She arrives at our house. The man we hired to transport her is a master at trucks and trailers, let me tell you. Here, he backs her down the street.

And he deposits her right in our yard.

I sat there, watching as he carefully put two boat stands under her stern, and placed blocks under the keel. He felt her balance and then proceeded slowly to pull the trailer away. Then ... cabloop! She took a nose-dive into the grass!

Eek!! That's not supposed to happen! He's been transporting boats for 32 years, and he said it's never happened before. Part of the problem was that our boat is simply so small, even for this small trailer. But no damage was done, and he quickly righted her.
Now she is "on the hard." That's boating terminology for out of the water and resting on solid ground.

So now the "Nocturne" is in our yard, and Adam can work on her easily. She will get a full redo, except sails. He will repaint her entirely. He's been collecting various paints on sale or given away, for the past two years. The only paint he'll have to buy is bottom paint.

He wants to add lazy jacks, which help greatly when lowering the mainsail, and two vents to keep the cabin aired out well. We'll power-wash the inside also. She will look like a new boat next spring, we hope.

The nose-dive into the grass only chipped off a little old blue paint, and now we can see the first (I think?) color, a brilliant red.