Haul Out Time

A lot has happened since leaving St. Augustine. We have had some very mild vibration or flutter with our Autoprop, especially in shallow water. Immediately on starting out from St. Augustine, the vibration was more severe than usual and of concern. We stopped at Pine Island and I dived on the prop to clean it. It was was actually already pretty clean and my efforts did not improve the vibration. We had already planned a haul out this summer to raise the waterline so we decided to advance the date and do the haul out at Fernandina Beach. In addition to changing the waterline we would also change to our standard prop and add the dynaplates for the SSB radio ground.. Fernandina Beach had been recommended to us as a great stop. Fernandina Harbor Marina has recently added a mooring field and we decided to take a mooring for a week. The tidal range is 7' so the currents are swift. The mooring fee included use of the dinghy dock, water and shower facilities. The marina is right in the heart of the downtown. It is a wonderful and friendly town and quickly has become a favorite for us. The only real negative is a nearby pulp mill which is odorous with the wrong wind direction. We made arrangements with Tiger Point Marina and Boatyard to haul Ariel. They are a small yard on Egan Creek in Fernandina Beach. We ordered bottom paint and it was waiting for us when we arrived for the haul out. In all of our years dealing with boat yards, this by far was the best experience. They allow DIY and placed us near the restrooms/showers, provided 30 amp electrical service, water and a ladder. They did a very thorough job power washing the bottom and getting the boat very level on the stands. When we needed the prop pulled they responded within 10 minutes. They are really geared toward cruising boats and allowed us to stay aboard in the yard. There were several other cruising boats in the yard with us. We will definitely return to Tiger Point for any future haul outs. We were hauled on a Thursday and launched the following Tuesday. We rented a car to have while doing the boat work, knowing we would have to run out for parts and supplies. We treated ourselves to a night at their dock after launching to give Ariel a good washing before we left. This was our first night in a marina since we left our marina last Labor Day. We are now at Cumberland Island. We are now planning an offshore route to South Carolina. We are looking forward to spending a few days in Charleston.

 

Pulling Ariel, now 30,000 pounds

Ready To Launch