Several things came together to let us know that it was time for a major refit. There was the time we saw the foredeck moving as we tried to work our anchor out of a nasty tangle. There was having to get towed off the rocks in Cape May in nasty weather - by our anchor chain. There was the reason we needed to be towed off - our engine had ceased to work. And then there was the fact that after our ocean voyages and other adventures Into The Blue was showing signs of wear and tear.
So we have resigned ourselves, as well as we can, to a land-based life, complete with work of the money-earning kind and an apartment with all the things that go with that - like rent and a minimum of furniture. And we asked around until we found a good place to put the boat on the hard, a place where we could pay our way and still have money to do the work we need to do and buy the equipment we need to buy to replace what we have worn out.
Needless to say, things do not always work out as planned - but we have been working away at some of the many jobs we decided needed to be done. We originally said we would work our way from the bow to the stern - and that’s how we started. But this is a boat, and one thing leads to another, and there is weather and temperature to consider...
For those who are interested in following us, we’ll try to divide the posts up into separate projects, rather than post chronologically.
Next post - our new anchor locker.
