The End of the Season

The end of the season came suddenly (and surprisingly) for me.  The weekend of Nov 7 & 8 was going to be incredible... bright and clear with the temperatures in the low to mid 60s.  John and Jess were going to come down to Newark for a visit on Sunday so I had Saturday to make an attempt at single-handing again.

So with boat bag in hand, I arrived at Osprey Point marina, parked and confidently walked down to the dock and glanced across to B-dock and saw this...

No boat! (my slip is the one with all the bumpers in the center)

Thoughts flooded my mind...

"As I'm getting older, I do tend to mis-place things, but really, George"

"I'm pretty sure I kept up with the payments."

After standing there and surely looking like I felt (like a dumb idiot) for a few moments, I had a vague recollection of putting Nov 1 on the paperwork for when Gratitude Marina should haul her.  (Last year we had her hauled on Nov 15 - the official end of the season.)  

After a quick half-mile drive, and finding their manager, Wade, we found Seas The Day on the hard.  No sailing today.  (Thankfully, I had not invited anyone to come along for a sailing trip.)

Out of the water, it's easy to inspect the prop and line cutter.

Part of the plans for the day included pulling the last of the bedding and liquids off the boat, but since I didn't have my ladder with me, that had to wait.  Instead,  I went back to Osprey Point and flew the drone for a while.

Osprey Point Marina (with Haven Harbor at the upper left)

Osprey Point Inn

Looking west towards Swan Creek Marina.
(Gratitude Marina is at the upper left, near the water tower.)

A week later, I headed back down and pulled the bedding, etc.  I also opened all the doors and drawers to minimize mold and mildew.  Gratitude had already winterized everything and were well on their way to removing the sails, detuning the rig and stowing the Bimini... all that remains is for them to install the winter cover.

Yes... that was a job we used to do on the 315.  But with John still in Keyport and Vicky in China, there was no way I was taking that on alone.

I did have the drone with me again and got some nice shots of Seas The Day in her winter home.

Close-packed boats!

Looking back towards Osprey from Gratitude

Gratitude Marina

That's pretty much it for the season.  The bills for the hauling and winterizing are still coming in so look for our financial summary in the next month or so.

Thanks for reading!

Editors note... a few weeks later, I received this photo from Wade (from Gratitude Marina).  She's all put away and sleeping nicely.