Right when we almost had everything setup on the boat to make it appear as a cruising boat it was time to remove everything for the BIG MOVE. The day that we planned to drop the mast and haul the boat was forecasted to have rain,sleet,snow and 30 mph winds. Perfect conditions, right? Well, maybe for a polar bear. Fortunately we had plenty of help the entire day. I thank all my friends for coming out and attempting to become human popsicles in order to lower and carry a 500 pound 40 foot hunk of aluminum. Despite the winds roaring through the marina like a twister we managed to lower the beast onto the deck without any difficulty. My friend Matt that was helping had a good point. Doing the work in the worst conditions meant everything would go smooth. He was right. And I am glad he was. The day started with me climbing(slipping the whole way actually…) the mast in the rain and sleet. I wanted to remove the tacktick wind instrument in case the mast came in contact with the gin pole. following that procedure was made our way to the floating gin pole and fortunately lowered the mast without a hitch. We ended up helping our good friend Rich pull his boat out of the water. With the wind it made it difficult to keep the boat positioned in the travel lift without blowing into the sides. After his boat was placed we gathered 9 good friends and carried the mast up to the marina parking lot where it will sit until spring when it is stepped again 200 miles south on Kentucky lake. After the mast was set in place we moved the boat around to the travel lift and for the last time possibly ever the Pascagoula Run left the muddy water of Carlyle.
There is definitely a long list of things “to do” before the boat makes the journey down the Tenn tom waterway. The hard bimini is finished, however, the dodger is still in the process of being made. I need to finish setting up some of the wiring and navigation equipment. I also cut a large panel out of our anchor locker to allow for the placement of our lewmar 1000 windlass. I originally did not want to install a windlass. After hauling the anchor a few times I decided it would be a good piece of equipment to have . Especially in an emergency. Some anchorages are quite tight. The idea of single-handing and having a large boat drift toward me in middle of the night, or to have my own anchor drag, and not be able to lift the anchor up in a hurry worried me.
Well, back to work. More resin to sling and wire to run. Only 3 more months till departure. Gulf of mexico or Bust!
