Mast 'un'-stepping, haul out and winterizing

Whew, all done!

The weather really wasn't on our side this morning for the haul out of Bobato. But we managed to unstep the mast without any major problems. Except we broke a piece of plastic in genoa tube. Oh well, too bad... The haul out was done fairly quickly by the crane operator Mr. Nice French Guy. And then after a good wash down of the hull and all that was left to do after was to transport Bobato to dry dock yard.

My friend Pascal came this morning to give me a hand. We step up under the hand crank crane in port in order to unstep the mast. I tied an extension line looped up under the spreader bars to keep the mast safely in place. Then we started to undo the turnbuckles. Everything went well up to this point. I started to crank away to slowly unstep the mask. Pascal kept a close eye on the mast base, just in case. Within several minutes the mast was gently placed on deck. Then we set sail, rather we powered up the motor to head for the haul out crane. On arrival, we tied up and waited for the crane. Once everything was in place, the haul out took about 2 minutes to put Bobato back on her trailer. Pascal and I continued to clean the hull by hand using good old fashion brushes. Wouldn't you say that this boat is a bit pampered? Finally, to finish up I secured the boat to the trailer with straps and hooked up the trailer to Pascal's 4x4 for the 300m trip to the dry dock.

Well, the sky is nice and gray

Pascal at work, undoing the turnbuckles

Pascal decided to do a pole vault

Mission accomplished!

No, that's not Leonardo Dicaprio.

One last hop

Docked and ready for the crane operator



And Bobato takes flight

That rascal! Hosing under the skirt!

I wonder if the Bobato hasn't lost weight during the season ...

Well, the Bobato is ready for the 300m drive to dry dock

Finally high and dry next to two motor boat buddies

>> Click here to see my fancy backing up skills

A big thanks again to Pascal for his help and 4x4. It'll be a bit strange not to see my Bobato in the Aix-les-Bains marina this winter... Oh well, I'll visit often to finish up my winter projects.

View the slideshow of all photos from this morning.