(Click to enlarge)
Well even though Haulout is a sad day as it means the sailing season really is over till next May, Mother Nature cooperated and gave us a relatively mild day with a mix of sun and clouds but more importantly..NO RAIN!
Once a year in the fall and again in the spring they leave their natural watery habitat and take to the skys...no these are not migrating geese...these are Flying Boats.
With the help of heavy metal machines and a dedicated group of hard working club members all boats that are staying the winter at our club or being loaded onto trailers are carefully and skillfully lifted out of the water and lowered onto either their cradle or trailer.
The day starts EARLY with many people arriving by 6am or sooner...that's when we get fueled up on coffee and donuts awaiting the sound of the crane starting up and the darkness lifting so that we can get started.
The first order of business is to lift the ramp out of the water..this year was much easier as it is a new one which is smaller and lighter than the old one..last year was very dangerous with high winds flapping that old iron monster around like a main sail..extremely scary...no drama this year thank goodness!
The first boat came out around 07:30 and we were off to what is always a very long day.
The wind picked up around mid day and the channel got rather choppy but we were still hauling from the basin so it was not too bad. After the crane move in early afternoon it was time to start hauling from the channel. The wind had died down a bit but it was still somewhat rough so the process was a little more challenging...especially for the sling crew.
It's a long way down to the decks of the boats from the seawall and you had to climb down a ladder on the side then jump on deck. timing this when the boat rose up on a wave was the best plan. Once on deck it was a bit of a bull ride until the boat was in the slings and finally pulled out of the waves.
Lady Chadwick is the last boat out and there were a lot of happy faces when we got down to the last few boats and we could see her circling around in the channel waiting her turn. The sun was literally sinking (sorry..bad choice of words around boats) in the West and we were all wondering if it would be dark when we hauled her.
Amazingly the Lady was lifted almost at exactly the same time as the sun finally disappeared on the horizon. We all waited till she was safely down before collectively letting out of sigh of relief. The long day was finally over and it was all done safely.
It takes a lot of coordination between the crane operator, yard coordinator, sling crews, pushers, line handlers, landers, cradle crews, safety boats and boat owners but somehow we manage to get it all done. A special thanks also to all the people behind the scenes handling everything from paperwork, donuts and coffee, to lunch tickets and Regalia sales.
Now we just have to wait half a year to reverse the process...LAUNCH..a much happier day in a Northern Sailors life!
For more images of the Haulout, click on "My Images on Flikr" under OTHER LINKS.
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