Haulout Day For TOM-KAT Arrives!

Monday, July 14, was supposed to be haul-out day for TOM-KAT, but with all things "boating", flexibility is a must!

There were two beautiful “yachts” ahead of us to be launched and the one in the first photo had a few problems that needed fixing before the boatyard could put the yacht in the water. Strainers were missing from the bottom (from an earlier encounter with thin water) that had to be overnighted from NYC, and then the “power mast” wouldn’t go down. With the mast up, the crew couldn’t get the yacht out of the boat shed. They finally changed batteries and the mast came down. It takes us thirty seconds to remove two wing nuts and the mast is down!

While waiting, we had fun watching the well orchestrated crew work together to pull the yacht from the shed. The fellows all worked well together and everyone seemed to know their job.

The yacht riding out of the shed on the 50 ton travel lift that just fits the opening.

The gorgeous yacht in the water. Topsides are all gleaming teak.

Today TOM-KAT is finally hauled out. The crew pulls the boat into the sling.

TOM-KAT is out of the water for the first time in over a year!

Bob and I immediately dove under the boat to check the A/C intake strainer and sure enough, the strainer is full of grass.

Speed/Log wheel with barnacles. This wheel measures speed through the water (as opposed to speed over the ground measured by GPS)) and hasn’t been working for awhile.

Even though the boat was cleaned by a diver in February (Florida), we see barnacles on the rudder and the rest of the gear.

The bow thruster

The shaft and propeller. The shaft normally has a round zinc attached to it. That has worn away and is missing.

The keel is missing paint on the bottom edge, maybe from our touch in New Jersey or way back on the Illinois River or the thin water in the Keys!

TOM-KAT “on the hard” for soda blasting all that black paint off the bottom. Sodablasting is similar to sandblasting , but uses a substance that isn’t as abrasive on the gelcoat.

View of the Connecticut River Museum from the cockpit of the boat

Looking east from the boat over the mooring field and toward the eastern shore of the Connecticut River

We forgot to mention that on Sunday we pulled the Flo-Scan transducers out (fuel flow measuring instrument). We have been getting intermittent flow errors and are going to send it back to the factory for repair. The engine and transmission oil were changed, too.

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