September 7, 2018 Short Haul at Hinkley Yachts in Portsmouth, RI

TODAY IS THE DAY!!
Hinckley Yachts wanted to hall us out about 9:00am.  We wanted to meet the surveyor at 8:30, so we left our anchorage about 7:00.  It took us about an hour to get there.  We tied up at their fuel dock to meet the surveyor, so we bought fuel, too.  We met Mark Ashton after talking to him several times on the phone.  After he had his look inside and heard more details from us about what was happening, the boat had to be moved to their lift area.  2 guys form the marina jumped on board and said they would move the boat.  That was really nice, because it was kind of a tight area to get away from the fuel dock and into the bay with the travel lift.  We were getting the feeling that this was a very professional AND high dollar marina.  We hadn’t even asked what the short haul would cost, we were just glad they could do it for us.  We have heard the fees run anywhere from $8-$15 per foot.  That’s $344-645.  They often charge extra to pressure wash the boat once it is out.  In the end, it was $9/ft and no extra charge for the pressure wash.  We were happy with that.  And the insurance company may reimburse us.

Dave had mixed feeling about having someone move our boat

they placed sheets of plastic to protect our boat from their lift straps

Once the boat was out, Mark did his thing.  There didn’t appear to be any structural damage to the hull.  The seal that Dave had placed, where the shaft exits the skeg, looked like it wasn’t completely sealed.  Mark needed to see the area, so the 5200 3M sealant was removed.  It looked like that could be the source of the leak.  Dave bought a new tube of 5200 to reseal the area while the boat was out and no one was looking.  This is non DYI yard- not a do it yourself.  The skeg protects the shaft and has a filler inside.  After checking the skeg further, Mark could tell where there were voids and moisture inside the skeg.  This area should be repaired at some time, so we had the yard manager look at it to give us an estimate while it was out of the water. 

the triangular area protecting the shaft is the skeg

seal where shaft protrudes may be been the leak

goop it up good with 5200

Our first thought was to repair it from the inside, where Dave could see the cracks.  But the marina suggested cutting open the side of the skeg, cleaning it out, refilling, and then repairing the surface.  I believe the shaft, the prop and the rudder would have to be removed, too.  So this is a bigger job than Dave would do. 

For now, we will see if the new seal takes care of any water coming in.  Then we will plan the repair for the near future.  Of course we will need a new plan if we continue to take on water.  We were back in the water and on our way by 11:00.  We went back to Bristol to make a new plan.

I was also in the process of selling my office building in Rapid City, SD.  I spent a little time on the computer with some of those details.  Then we went into Bristol for a late lunch.  We tried Quito’s on the water.  Their seafood was great.  We walked around town long enough to wait for the Bristol Oyster Bar’s 4:00 happy hour to have their “buck a shuck” oysters one more time before leaving the area.  Besides the regular cocktail sauce/horseradish, they also served a pickled jalapeños and shallots sauce, and a mignonette sauce.  We really liked the mignonette.  It is made with pepper, red wine vinegar and shallots.