First, let me say that we HAVE MOVED the trawler over to our marina. Yes, now we have two rather large boats in two slips at LTM. Back in April, Erickson Marine finally finished with all of our repairs. As is typical with boat repair, but compounded by the fact that our Manatee is a older and maybe a little complex boat... repairs took a while. Here is a list of all that was done:
1.Repaired fiberglass stringers
2.Repaired shaft log/tube leak
3.Removed glass thru-hull mounting locations
4. Added a bilge pump
5. Aligned engine
6. Repainted transom platform
We went to visit often, began loading "stuff" onboard. Sighed and "gazed wistfully" upon her and waited. Finally, the call came, that all was done. She was in the water in a slip at Emerald Point and all had been stable for three days.
So.. off we went, credit card in hand and went to see her and get a walkthrough of all that was accomplished. Indeed, she looked good.
Terry of Erickson Marine gave us a rundown of all that was done and how to get her out of the marina. We paid and staggered back to the truck. Went to LTM with the plan of coming back that night to make the move. But.. it was a little windy and we were a little nervous. Plus we had to move Bon Dia over to a friend's slip to make room for the Manatee.So we hesitated, ate out at Pino's, visited with friends and made a plan for the next morning when the winds would be less. At 3:45a.m. that morning, after a night's sleep bothered by worry, PD finally said, "I can't sleep, let's go."
So, in those wee hours, we moved Bon Dia, tied her up in the borrowed slip. We drove to Emerald Point, left the truck and boarded the Manatee. We talked about our plan for untying, moving out of the marina and out around some high spots in the marina waters and making our way to her new home. We made it out of the slip and out into open waters. We chugged our way home, with PD stopping to practice some backing up strategies. Remember, this was his first time to do this alone, so practice was a good idea.
We discussed our plans for tying the boat up in the new slip as we drove. We also observed just how slow our "top speed" will be as we cruise in the future. Gone are the days of speeding up and down the lake like the "go fast" boats. We got the the marina and entered. NO ONE was awake and up to watch us, which was fine. PD did a remarkable job; in fact a perfect job. The wind had actually already begun to stir, adding to our nervousness. But you would have never know he was concerned. All went well. We played a little with how to tie her up and all was done. She was home and we were tired. Marina friends arose to our new boat.
Now... Did I mention we have a BOAT FOR SALE? We still need to find a home for our Sea Ray. We listed it with Sail and Ski and are keeping our fingers crossed for a quick sale.
