After we pulled into Safe Harbor Stingray Point on Sunday, April 14, we had one full day to prep before our haul-out appointment on Tuesday. It was a very busy day and it also happened to be the hottest day since we left Florida. Our goal was to strip everything possible off the deck to make her as safe as possible during any potential summer storms. First on the agenda was removing all of her sails. Luckily, the marina had a wide open field near the dock to aid in our folding. After a few sweaty hours of wrestling heavy sails, we checked this task off the list.
Next on the agenda was removing all of Alaya’s cockpit canvas and solar panels. Our cockpit enclosure had been a lifesaver all winter, it had kept us warm and dry. It was now time to get wrapped up and stowed. As I rolled up the eight canvas panels, Lucas started packing up tools and electronics for our summer away. We worked together in the evening removing all the solar panels. Alaya was starting to look pretty bare on deck but we were running out of room to work down below.
Tuesday was haul-out day and it dawned clear with no wind – perfect conditions. We’re always anxious on haul-out days, who wants to see a 30,000 lbs boat fly? But this one felt different. This time, we were preparing to leave not just our boat but our home.
When the time came, we maneuvered Alaya over to the hoist and turned her over to the crew. They did a great job lifting her and we were pleasantly surprised to see how clean her bottom looked. The fiberglass repairs we had done last spring around her rudder and keel held up well and she didn’t have much marine growth at all. Once they power-washed off the little bit of growth below the waterline, they rolled her to her new spot in the yard. She was shored up nicely by 2 p.m.
After lunch, now that our girl was sitting on dry land again, we had another transportation problem to solve – our rental car. Deltaville is a wonderful place for boaters but it is remote. As in, Lyft-doesn’t-come-out-that-far-to-take-to-you-to-the-rental-car-shop, remote. Luckily, Randy of the local taxi business had room in his schedule to pick us up the following day. I made a reservation over the phone to pick up a rental car at the closest Enterprise, about 30 miles away. That problem “solved”, we turned our attention back to packing up our home.
Amidst the flurry of activity, it really hit me that we were leaving Alaya for months. I knew I was going to miss her and the cruising lifestyle so much. The only thing that kept me going was the hope that our summer on Mackinac Island was going to be worth it.
After a fitful night’s sleep, we continued packing and prepping the next morning. It was getting harder to keep organized, as we pulled stuff out that had been stowed in all of Alaya’s great nooks and crannies, we were running out of floor space in our 43 ft boat. We really needed our rental car to get this stuff off the boat before we could clean bilges and winterize the engine.
Randy came and picked us up on time. We should have known trouble lay ahead when Randy commented, “Oh, I didn’t think this Enterprise did cross-country rentals.” What happened next was an exact reenactment of a famous Seinfeld episode, which I didn’t know of until after. At the time, I might have thought the reenactment was funny but in the moment, I was flipping mad. Long story short, we ended up getting a car somehow after Lucas talked me down over some McDonald’s fries.
Rental car drama mostly behind us, we drove back to Alaya where the final sprint began. We stuffed the car full of everything we thought we might need or at least didn’t want to store on the boat over the summer. Lucas finished scrubbed down the bilges and we winterized the engine (just in case Virginia got unusually cold before we got back to her in November). Our last task had been deflating Margaret P. and shoving her into the cabin.
We left Alaya in purposeful chaos – cupboards open, floorboards askew, cushions propped up and clothes and linens in vacuum bags anywhere they could fit. In case you couldn’t guess, I’m a person who likes to leave their house clean before vacation. This felt like the exact opposite. We were trying to keep Alaya and our stuff safe and encourage as much airflow in the cabin as possible. Putting her back together will be a problem for future Lucas and Emily.
Exhausted after hours of work and anxious about leaving our treasured home, we finally left the boatyard around 6 p.m.. We were glad to be done with this stage of our trip. Tears were definitely shed.
Once we got in the car, we headed south to Williamsburg. Lucas’ Great Aunt Fran and Great Uncle Marty were kind enough to invite us over for the evening before we started north. We were treated to an amazing Italian meal at a restaurant near their neighborhood and stayed the night in their beautiful home. It was a short stay but a perfect way to start off the next phase of our journey – and wow, a hot shower in an actual house felt AMAZING! Thank you for your hospitality, Fran and Marty!
After eating our fill of Marty’s signature pancakes in the morning, we got back in our rental car and headed north once again. The epic marine portion of our trip had officially concluded.
