Starting that preparation for the coming season

After having the boat repaired from the accident she had in September when she dragged the mooring during a storm, I brought her home as noted in my last blog.  On that trip the axle started to bend due to rust.  I have now ordered a new axle and expect that any day now.  I am also buying new leaf springs so I won't have to worry about the suspension for years to come. 

I just brought my mainsail to the sail maker and was told to use it as a spare.  The sail is the original and someone before me had holes at the ends of the battens which they repaired, but had to shorten the battens to stop the wear.  So now I am in search of a sail.  I will check with the boat yard first to see if they have one and if they don't, I'll have to but a new one.  The jib will be in better shape than the old one as after the accident I bought a replacement from the yard that was in very good condition.  Now all I will have left will be to replace the running rigging.

 I have been cleaning the water stains on the outside off and will wax the hull after I complete this task.  The interior will be stripped out and everything cleaned when we get some good weather.  That has been hard to find lately.  The is a spot on the deck where a pole for the life line was knocked over during the accident and I will fiberglass that once I know we will have a few good days of fair weather.

Thats it for now.  I'll keep the blog posted on upcoming events.

Lil Provo is home

Saturday, February 19th I drove down to the boat yard to see if I could get Lil Provo home.  When I arrived all the snow and ice were gone.  She was on her trailer at the top of the lot. I proceeded home and called Blue to advise him that Sunday would be the day.  Sunday morning we drove down to the shore to pick up Lil Provo. We hooked her up to our hitch and pulled her out of her spot.  We climbed on board to make sure everything was tightened down for the trip home.  I open the cabin to see there was 4" of water inside.  I knew this was adding a lot of weight to the trailer so I pulled out the hand pump and started pumping.  I eventually had to switch off to Blue and let him do some pumping.  I tried to use the bilge pump, but it was frozen in ice.  After about a half hour we got the water level down to the sole level.  The bilge was still full.  I thought that would be enough reduction in weight for the trip home.  It kind of pissed me off that the guys in the boat yard would park a boat with the nose down.  Nobody said the workers were the sharpest pencils in the tin.  We had to travel on major highways to get her home.  On the way back a guy was pointing at our trailer and trying to say something.  We couldn't figure out what it was he was trying to tell us, all tie downs looked taught and things seemed okay. When we pulled off the highway I noticed a cloud of white smoke coming from the tires, but they were full of air.  I travel a little further down the street and saw another puff of smoke. I pulled into a school lot and got out to check on the trailer.  Everything seemed fine, except the tires were rubbing on the trailer frame. The axle was bending due to the heavy load and rust! We only had a couple more miles to go and we figured we would give it a try.  We arrived at my home and parked the boat in the back yard. Out uneventful trip could have easily been a very memorable trip if the axle had broke through.

I had a chance to inspect the work done to the damage that happened in September. She looked good, could barely see any repair. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Now to set up my schedule of things to do.

Boat is in for repair

We took a ride down to the boat yard and spoke with John about the repair work.  I explained that the mosty important thing was to get the jib sail as that was distroyed in the accident.  I brought the insurance check with me to show John how much the insurance had paid.  Being the great guy he is, John said, " I think we can take care of it for that."  WOW... I was so happy to hear those words.  I asked when he could get it done as I still had things to do on the boat this winter.  He said he would bring it in after the holidays and get to work on her.  At that time I endorsed the check right over to him. Now is that a great Christmas present or what?  In a couple weeks we'll contact him to see how things are going.
Happy New Year

Christmas

Here it is a couple days before Christmas and my insurance company (BoatUS) has finally responded with a check to repair Lil Provo.  It was far from the estimate, but I guess something is better than nothing.  They discounted all parts 90%!  Though Lil Provo was in excellent shape, never painted, sea worthy, etc, it didn't make a bit of difference to Boat US.  Tomorrow I will ride down to the boat yard to see what I can work out with John. I'll be back with more info after I talk to him.

The winter is starting to settle in

It is already into December.  The nights are getting colder and the winds have been blowing.  recently there has been a cold spell in the south and Florida has seen temperatures in the 20's this week.  Lil Provo sits in the boat yard awaiting the reply of the insurance company.  We went down and threw a tarp on her, but have reservations if it going to stay as the wind really howls coming off the water. 

Today I will try to contact the insurance company for an update.

Settling up with the boat yard

On Sunday we took a ride down to the bay and to visit Olsen Boat Works.  John was there on a Sunday and had my seasonal bill ready and my estimate on repairing Lil Provo.  John told me to send him  a check and I pulled out my checkbook and paid him on the spot.  I don't like these things hanging out there, specially after the season is over by a month.  I know he can use the cash to pay the guys who work there.  He is such a great guy and he hass really looked out for my interests over the past couple years.  When I have had a problem, he has been the problem solver.

I am working on my list of things I must complete on Lil Provo over the winter.  Once I complete it I'll post it and keep track of my progress.  Over the next two weeks I will need to cover her.  I don't like the idea of snow sitting on her.  I will buy a tarp and put the mast ontop and lash the tarp down over the mast.

That's it for now.

Still waiting!

It has been weeks since the boat was taken out of the water.  I still have not received a quote on the repairs and have not been able to file a claim to the insurance company.  I will be taking a ride down there on Saturday to see what is going on.  I have decided that I will buff out the side with the damage and just address the few deep scraps.  I will repaint the side strip and replace the rub rail that was torn off.  I am hoping that the boat yard still sells me a replacement Jib.  I will keep you posted.