6 Sep 19

Last day of the 2019 cruising season; sigh. We languished in bed again as it was once again quite chilly first thing. After breakfast, we walked up into town with John and Laurie for 2nd breakfast of chocolate croissant and cinnamon roll. On the way, I found a good oarlock socket to fit my new pocket puller (for pulling up the prawn trap over the stern - way cool: another project. We got back to the boat just before 11:00, said some hasty goodbyes to John and Laurie and pulled away from the dock at 11:20. There was not much wind out in the channel, so we ended up motoring all the way to Anacortes, where we pulled into the dock at 14:45, pumping out both holding tanks on the way in. Along the way, we overheard “Massilia” making a number of calls to Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound: one, a rare and disciplined Pan Pan Relay call, for an out of gas speedboat, operated by likely 1%-er children out of the Seattle Yacht Club and another for a wildfire on Jones Island, a Washington State Marine Park. It is rare to hear such seamanlike, calm and disciplined radio calls on VHF these days. We immediately walked over to pick up our car and booked a 5’ x 5’ x 8’ storage room to hold all of the stuff we have to clear off the boat this winter to facilitate all of the work that will be done on the boat. Back at the boat, I tackled the very unpleasant job of washing out the insides of both holding tanks - yuck. I then dumped the diesel jerry can into the fuel tank. That is 9 of 50 winterization tasks completed. We ran up to Anthony’s to catch the last of the happy hour drinks and small plates. Back to the boat afterward to do a bit more planning and get a good night’s sleep before tomorrow’s working day.

48-30.742’N, 122-36.394’W; Log = 18.8, Sum (2019) = 1041.8 N-m

7 Sep 19

Up at the crack of dawn to tackle the day’s tasks. First, I took a few things to the storage locker that we rented yesterday. Then, I changed the oil and filter, topped up the fresh water with anti-freeze, and changed the heat exchanger zinc on the generator, and then flushed anti-freeze through the raw-water system; the generator is fully winterized. I also changed the transmission oil on the Volvo engine. With the Admiral’s help, we dropped and flaked both the jib and the mainsail; the mainsail will need a bit of work during the winter by the sailmaker to repair a minor tear at the tack/foot junction (before it becomes a major tear). Then, after another run to the storage unit, I hauled the honey wagon down to the boat and we pumped out both holding tanks, filled them with water and pumped them out again; they are now as clean as they are going to get. After happy hour and dinner aboard, we packed up all of the spare parts, quilts, charts and clothes stored under the forepeak bunk. Then, after a shower, it was time for bed.

8 Sep 19

We had thunder and lightning during the night and a bit of wind, which meant that the (now unoccupied) main sail furling foil rattled in the mast all night long; annoying. It was cold, cloudy and damp this morning, so it was struggle to get out of bed. After breakfast, the Admiral headed up to do laundry and I went to work on winterization chores. First, I cleaned the dinghy, then got it hung up for the winter on the davits, with the cover lashed down. I also removed the bar-b-que, life-raft (which has to be sent back to the factory for testing and revalidation), and EPIRB (which also needs to be revalidated) from the transom and cleaned out the stupid, useless transom locker. Then, I collected the Admiral and we took a load of stuff to the storage: dinghy sail kit, diesel jerry can, cockpit table leaves, bar-b-que, a box of boat linens and a box of boat spares. We stopped off at the Island Cafe for a late lunch, then back to the boat. By then, it has dried off enough that I spent a couple of hours power washing the deck and cleaning some of the more difficult parts with Aurora Boat Cleaner. That was pretty much the day shot. Happy hour and dinner (left-over shrimp curry) aboard. Shower and early to bed.

9 Sep 19

The Admiral had set up bed in the aft state-room (because of our impending deconstruction of the forepeak bed), and I stopped the main-sail foil from rattling around in the mast, so we had a very good sleep. It rained off and on through the night and was quite cool and damp when we got up at 07:30. I had another go at cracking open the engine water cooling plug, but could not shift it, where it is located between the oil filter and the oil pressure sender; one needs a square 17 mm socket, with a 4 inch extender - I’ll leave this chore for North Island Boat. I was just about to head off with another load for the storage unit when KJ called from North Island Boat and advised he was on his way to have a look at the work-list, particularly the forward fresh-water tank. They agreed that the tank lid is toast (bad gel-coat job on the top - and probably the bottom), but determined(?) that the fore and aft ends of the tank are aluminum. We agreed that they will pull the existing lid off and then decide whether to replace it or install polypropylene water tanks inside the existing void; this will inevitably result in a loss of some water storage forward, but will be more robust and less likely to failure, at least for the likely remainder of my cruising career. KJ and I agreed that immediately after haul-out, we will move the boat straight to the North Island yard. So, that means I will have to put off waxing and polishing the topsides (again) until next spring. After a run to the storage unit to take a few boxes and the forepeak mattress, we stopped by the local sail-maker to see about a minor repair to the mainsail, but they are in a bit of transition and did not want to take it now. We then tried to ship the life raft to a Plastimo service center in L.A., but finding a local hazmat freight forwarder is proving to be a bit of a challenge; UPS will not ship it - I may have to haul it home to Houston, where we can certainly find someone. Back to the boat after a quick lunch at Starbucks, I tackled disassembly of the forepeak berth frame. It was a bit of a struggle, but it is done now and will save me 3 or 4 hours of labor charge at $100/hr; this may keep the eventual bill below $5k. I may have to go back to work to pay for all the repairs to the boat this year. I had a look inside the tank through the 1.5” filling port (unbelievably, there is no inspection port in this tank; which shortcoming will most definitely be corrected during the winter, whichever repair system is agreed upon), and the bit of aluminum I can see (on the aft bulkhead) appears to be just fine; i.e., no pitting or other corrosion visible. Maybe some of the tank is salvagable, after all. The Admiral continued to pack up other stuff to go to the storage unit and we made another run with all of the remaining spares from the forward storage bin under the forward berth before they closed. When we got back to the boat, I spent a bit of time writing up a detailed procedure to help me reassemble the forepeak berth frame next spring. It never stopped raining all day long enough for me to tackle the deck waxing/polishing or toe-rail application of Le Tonkinois. After the day’s frustrations, we felt it was appropriate to start happy hour a bit early. Then, the Admiral whipped up another meal, trying to use up the last of our food supplies. Finally, I booked a hotel room for Wednesday and Thursday nights. We will likely head SE some time early Friday morning. Cold again in the evening, so we went to be early.

10 Sep 19

The decommissioning/winterization list has not disappeared overnight, so we decided to work on it ourselves a bit more. After breakfast, I removed both of the dorade vent covers (to take them home to use as templates for replacements out of teak) and covered the open pipe holes with baggies and duct-tape. The port-side pipe seal to the deck was looking a bit dodgy (you may recall that I had to repair the starboard side pipe in June), so I removed the old caulk, cleaned it up and re-caulked it. Next, I got a coat of Le Tonkinois on the port-side cap-rail. We finally worked out a plan for shipping the life raft to Avon Rafts in L.A.; we have to deliver the life raft to Marine Safety Services in Seattle and they will take care of the rest. I also arranged for the mainsail to be repaired by Ullman Sails - Pacific Northwest (or whatever they are called after they get their change-of-ownership sorted out). After lunch, I put a coat of Le Tonkinois on the starboard cap-rail. And, then, I spent a bit of time applying some Aurora non-skid deck wax to the port side of the deck. This is intended to be a trial of this wax to see if it helps resist accumulation of dirt and grime on the deck. Happy hour and dinner (last of the leftovers aboard). After a shower, we got in bed at 21:00. Last night on the boat in 2019.

11 Sep 19

Eighteen years since that dark day in US history; long may we remember. After our last breakfast aboard this year, I made a penultimate run to the storage unit, then came back to the boat and winterized the hot-water tank, the aft holding tank, shower drain and head. Then, while waiting for the Admiral to finish another load of laundry, did a bit more deck waxing. After lunch, we came back and loaded up the last bit of stuff for the storage bin; we have completely filled up a 5’ x 5’ x 8’ storage bin - Lord knows where we put it all on the boat, but I guess we will find out in the spring. We also have the CR-V loaded to the ceiling in the back. Back at the boat, I winterized the forward holding tank, head and shower drain. While I was doing that the Admiral looked under the floorboards in the galley and it was ugly. I cannot remember ever pulling those boards up; in any event, it has been a while. After cleaning up the mess on the bilge floor, we found one of the floor boards (1” thick plywood) has got quite wet on the edge and is swelling up and looking bad, so I decided to take it home for the winter to do a little work on it. We left the other floor board up to let the side wall bottom dry out; bad design where Beneteau tabbed in this vertical bulkhead into the floor stringer, as they left 1/4” deep low points with no drains where water can accumulate and soak into the wood. Hopefully, this bulkhead will dry out over the winter and I will fill in the low points in the spring with some caulk, then do something to improve the water-proofing on the bottom of the bulkhead. After a final happy hour aboard, we loaded up the rest of our stuff and moved into the hotel. Dinner at Frida’s Mexican Restaurant; surprisingly good.