Back on the Hard

 Orange Beach

Thursday morning November 10th we pulled off the dock and headed to Saunders Marine to get the  bottom of the boat painted. The day before we had passed Saunders Marine on the way to the Wharf  only three miles back. So we pulled off at 7:30am so we would be there when they opened. Well when we arrived the guys were standing at the birth where they would pull us out. When they saw us they looked a little puzzled. Then they waived us off and told us to tie up in a slip. Then I noticed another boat behind us that was also getting hauled out of the water. So after we tied up I went and spoke with the lead guy. He said’ “let me make a call.” I heard him say, “yeah that’s what I thought.” Turns out there is another Saunders Marine in Orange Beach 13 miles away. So we pulled back off the dock and headed there. As soon as we arrived they plucked us out of the water and set us on blocks. The nice thing about this marina is that they let you stay on board while they work on the boat.

The other nice thing was that the surrounding area was very nice with a great restaurant onsite, a funky bar across the street and a couple miles of bike paths. We had electricity and water but because the boat was out of the water we did not have any heat. Did I forget to mention we were back in the land of palm trees and clear water teaming with dolphins? Normally that would be served with warm weather. Well anyhow they got right to work on the bottom.

After they were done I gat a call from the service writer. He told me that the whole bottom would need to be stripped to guarantee the new paint job. He said this was necessary because not all of the defective paint came off. It was only going to cost a mere $10,000 to do it. I asked for option 2. They said they could try to sand off the remaining paint but they were unsure that would work.

So feeling a little dejected the  next morning I got up and went to work trying to find what would get the old paint off. Turned out a simple paint scraper did the trick. I scraped the majority of the paint off while one of the yard guys sanded behind me. The good news was when we were done the bottom was free of 95% of the old paint and ready for new paint. In the mean time I inspected the props and discovered the one that was repaired in Canada was failing  where it was welded. In all fairness the guy who repaired it said that the prop was in bad shape and that it might fail. We called a local prop shop and the owner Mike came by to look at the prop.

Nice good ole country boy who loves to hunt and fish. He unfortunately confirmed the diagnosis. DOA! He went to work to find us replacements. He told us the used prop market had depleted due to supply chain issues and that finding new ones would be tough. Ugh!!! Time was ticking as we wanted to be back in the water on Saturday.

By 4:30 pm Friday he called me to let me know that he found a new pair in Florida and that if we ordered them now they would be delivered on Monday. So much for getting back in the water on Saturday. The yard had worked really hard and completed the bottom paint by the end of the day on Friday. Progress was being made. Our UK friends came to visit us late in the day to see the progress. We decided to take a dinghy ride for happy hour through the canals that branched out from the marina. We had a great dinner at Fishers, the restaurant onsite. 

On Saturday the day started out sunny and warm. Sue handled some domestic duties and I went to work replacing both rudder seals that at various times were leaking.  Keeping water on the outside of the boat is one of the main laws of buoyancy or better put keeping the boat from sinking. Even a small leak means you are slowly sinking. So the process went pretty good until it came to installing the new seals. After an hour of trying to get them to seat I went to the tool shed that the yard manager, Brett, kindly left open for me.

I was able to devise a press from a simple threaded rod and a couple of big washers. Worked like a charm. By then unfortunately it clouded over and there was a slight misty intermittent rain. We decided to get in the dinghy anyway and head to the famous FloraBama bar. It was a 25 min ride but well worth it. It is a rustic multi-building bar/entertainment complex that stretches from the intercoastal to the gulf with only the beach road in between. It sits right on the Florida Alabama line thus the name. Turns out Alabama was playing and the crowd was into it. College football in this part of the country is a religion. They could care less about the NFL for the most part. Well the weather deteriorated a bit in that the winds picked up and the temp plummeted into the low 50’s. So we were faced with a decision. We can leave before dark and honor all the no wake zones or we can have another beer or two and leave in the cover of darkness and run the gauntlet. Well what do you think we did???

I will give you a clue. We made it back to the boat yard in 14 minutes flat! FloraBama lived up to it’s lore. 

The temps that night dropped into the low 40s.  Remember we were on the hard and no way to run the heaters. Fortunately we had one space heater that kept the stateroom somewhat warm. Getting up in the cold was not much fun.

About 9 am the crew from Irish Lass stopped by and offered another space heater and an invite over for a dinner of beef stew. We gladly accepted both. This is the of type comraderie  we have experienced all along the Loop. It is simply amazing. Sue and I spent part of the day washing the boat and preparing to be splashed hopefully on Monday. We then took a long  bike ride through a seaside park. We had a great time sharing a meal with Wade and Kathleen on Irish Lass. 

On Monday we spent half of the day waxing the hullsides of Next Chapter. They had nice rolling scaffolding that made the job pretty easy. I was getting anxious as the day went on waiting for the props. At 3:30 I called Mike to check on the status. He said, “Man I just got off the phone with the Gulf Shores location and the trucking company dropped them there.” Shit! I started to scramble to get the props so I could get them mounted so we could splash in the morning. Mike stepped up and went and picked them up and brought them to us. He even helped me mount them. So by 5:00pm Next Chapter had her new shoes. It was getting dark so I scrambled and got a coat of anti fouling paint on them so we were ready to go in the morning. I was a half hour late to a gathering of Loopers at Fishers but was elated that this odyssey was almost over, or at least so I thought. Yep you guessed it. Another cliff hanger!