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Velocir’s Haul Out Update

Long time no post.  As you know, we’re currently in sunny California.  But, that doesn’t mean Velocir is completely out of the picture.  She needs some love and care back on the East Coast, so we have hauled her out of the water for the winter.  It will give us an opportunity to check-up on her and give her the attention that she needs.

The haul-out was very exciting.  As you can see, she slipped out of the cradle, yikes!  This happened for a few reasons.  Mostly, it’s pretty clear in the photo that the strap almost looks amidships, so we all thought we were good to go, but the rudder is just so far forward on her full keel.  After a moment of terror, we eased back into the process.  She is a strong little boat!

Grant did a thorough survey and assessed the projects.  He cleaned her from top to bottom.  Even though we have taken great measures including painting and solar vents installation (which is super combative to mold) Velocir still tries very hard to become musty.  Without these preventative measures she could have built a nice mold colony, but after many months she is just a bit musty and so we wiped down surfaces, no big deal!

On the bottom, Grant started sanding (yes, he used a mask just not in this photo).  The bottom paint did an amazing job protecting her hull.  This is the same paint from before the trip!  Velocir will get a new bottom job in the spring.  For right now, Grant went to work prepping her.  It took extra time because instead of just quickly roughing it up, the paint was sanding off in clumps and peeling instead of just being easy to rough up.  Eventually it came out after some finesse.

To finish up projects, Grant also repaired our ignition switch.  Since we left the Bahamas it has been freezing up. All of the salt and dirt made it grimy, so Grant took it apart and cleaned it thoroughly.  Luckily a quick fix!  For such a specialized part that is specific to the Vega we didn’t want to need a replacement.    The wiring back together probably took the longer than fixing– the wires we used are green, light green and bright green, makes for a fun combination!

Let’s see, what else?  The battery was dead so we fixed a loose connection on the solar panel charge controller.  We took off the running rigging  and ran cheap line through everything to reduce sun and moisture damage to the good stuff.  She will rest well this winter!

We are still adapting to our transition from cruising.  Many stresses and responsibilities, just the fixation with time and schedules can be a hard adjustment.  I mean, we’ve lived in the modern age, but for some reason after the freedoms and confidences cruising affords, being thrust back into the mix is mildly traumatic.  I know, I know, what problems to have.

Thanks so much for following our journey, we will continue to update as we can.