We spent 2 weeks preparing our boat for hurricane season. Here are most of the things we did.
Sails: laid out our spinnaker sail to dry then stored in it’s bag.
Ran halyards to the top of the mast so they wouldn’t be affected by wind.
Took down the jib sail to store in the unit along with the spinnaker sail.
Lashed the sacrificial portion of the main sail to the mast. This is the part that is exposed to the sun when the sail is stored in the mast. He put a line through the cringle for the outhaul and tied it back to the mast.
I washed the salt off of the deck, cleaned the enclosure curtains to store them in the storage unit. I cleaned the conch shells we brought back with us, one for Dave’s sister and one for us.
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cleaning the side curtains for the cockpit |
Pickled the water maker since we won’t be using it for several months. Shocked our aft tank to clean it. It had to set a few days with bleach in the tank. Next we drain it and rinse and drain it again. Then we let it dry out before using to let the chlorine evaporate.
Moved our outboard off of the dinghy and onto the stern. Flushed the outboard. Then covered it with plastic to keep it dry in heavy rain. Ran the fuel out of the Honda generator.
Dave emptied our jerry cans of diesel into the fuel tank. It’s best to have the tank full to keep moisture from building up in the tank.
We emptied the gas from our jerry cans into the rental car and stored the cans in the unit with the diesel cans.
We laid the Portland Pudgy, Skadoosh, upside down on the bow. Then we laid the Zodiac dinghy over Skadoosh, which fit inside the Zodiac. The cover for the Zodiac fit over both of them. Then Dave lashed them down to the deck.
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2 dinghies snuggled together |
Tuned up air conditioner. Put bromine tablets in the raw water screen and ran it through the unit. He cleaned the screen of the condensation try drain and the outside screens.
We picked up a rental car May 31. Picked up a Home Depot rack for our storage unit. It made such a difference that we picked up a second one. It made it much easier to access totes. Plus several lids for the totes were cracking.
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storage unit rack |
We emptied everything out of the bilge that was stored there. Best to have it clear if there was an emergency to deal with while we’re gone.
Taped windows on the outside to prevent rain from being driven in.
We closed the dorades, air vents from the deck.
Closed the vents on the stern so water can’t enter in a storm.
Dave added a bilge pump for the aft section of the boat under the engine. He spent time researching what he needed. He ran a bilge hose form the engine to a through hull in the aft port quarter of the boat. He installed the bilge pump and had to trouble shoot it. Nothing works the first time on installations. The switch was from a different bilge company than the bilge pump he bought. Ordered and waited for new switch. Second time was a charm. Always another step.
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adding a switch for the additional bilge pump |
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someone might think this is interesting |
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accessing the engine compartment from under the stairs |
Dave dove the hull of the boat to put lanocoat on the prop and shaft. That keeps barnacles from growing while we’re sitting in the marina. The new paint job will keep them off of the hull. The zincs were ok. He noticed coffee grounds on the hull above the through hull for the galley sink and cleaned that off. It had damaged the paint in the past.
Put out extra dock lines, fenders and chafe gear (protects lines where they rub against the boat). He retied our neighbor’s boat. It has been sitting here unattended since we got here. Dave had permission from the marina to do what he thought needed to be done.
Covered the grill with plastic. Covered the binnacle and table in the cockpit with a canvas cover made for them. Then lashed the canvas down.
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tucked up before trip to SD, MN, WI |
Checked the Yanmar transmission fluid and oil. Flushed the air conditioner lines. We will shut if off while we are gone and run a dehumidifier.
Took off the solar panels and stored them in the storage unit. Also took off the Bimini over the cockpit and stored it in the unit.
Cleaned the raw water screens once more.
dinghy registration
6-5
We drove to Green Cove Springs to register the new dinghy that we bought in the Bahamas this winter. The DMV wanted the MSO-manufacturers statement of origin. We weren’t given one and would have to get one from the Bahamas. Then they said they could give us a title using the invoice, BUT we had another road block. The state of Fl just changed a law that will no longer let us use our mail service on our driver’s license. We were told that we would have to have an address in Florida that we use for 6 months and one day each year. Well, we left there to talk to our mailing service. This we new to them, too. So they were going to research it and get back to us.
Dave was able to go online and register our Beneteau using our current address.
6-7
We were told by St Brendan’s Isle, our mailing service, that we should try another DMV in Florida besides Green Cove Springs. So we drove to Nassau County in Fernanadina Beach, FL about an hour south of us. We took in the title hoping they didn’t care about our driver’s license. This office insisted that we have the original MSO, not a digital copy. She said it was the “birth certificate” of the dinghy. Well, that wasn’t going to happen. PLUS we’re supposed to have this registered within 30 days of returning to the USA.
Added this now to finalize the story. 7-3 continuation of dinghy saga: We found out we could change out driver’s licenses to FL and our coast guard documentation number. We changed that online and had them sent to us at GCS. We picked them up on 7-3 and went back to the DMV. We were able to register the dinghy with our new driver’s license and the invoice. FINALLY!
We also helped neighbors as needed and relaxed as needed.
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Pretty Nan with her pretty flowers |
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helping Kent remove sails |
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the ladies at the liquor store had a sense of humor |
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relaxing with dock mate Kent |