I spent a quick day with Goober today (on the hard as you can see in the picture below) taking down her sails, getting her deck all ship-shape for the next three months of Winter, and bringing lots of stuff home for cleaning and airing out.

As with last time, it was fairly satisfying work, but it's just not natural for her to be on dry land and for me to be with her and not sailing! I told the guys from the yard that I want to get her back in the water late March or early April this year! The paint on the bottom seems to have held up pretty well over the last two years in the water, but I've got a good bit of barnacle scraping to do! Come Spring, though, I'll do it gladly to get her back in action!

(She looks kind of lonely and out of place, doesn't she!?)

I went to the boat Wednesday to get her winterized and pulled out of the water. Most of the trip to Cole's Point was driven in light snow and the temperature was not expected to get above the 30s. The local weather was calling for 20+ knot winds with gusts into the 30s, and that appeared pretty accurate to me. Waves seemed to be whipping up on every inch of the Potomac, and for the first time since I've been going there, there were waves in the marina!

I got the fresh water system winterized, removed the dinghy and outboard for storage at home, and ace mechanic Jason let me watch him winterize the engine. Turns out his job was one of the simplest things on the list, but I wanted to watch him do it so I'd know I was doing it right in the future. I removed the propane tank (after using my new cooktop to heat up some soup for lunch!) and removed various linens for washing and storage at home until Spring. My winterizing checklist remains largely un-checked, but I did manage to get her ready to be left in the boat yard in sub-freezing temperatures. The boat yard is pulling her out in the next few days, and I hope to get back up there a few more times over the Winter when the weather's a little balmier.

I was pleased with what I got done and what I learned from Jason, but the net effect of the trip was actually a little depressing. I like working on her and planning for things to come, but it seems that every step I took, every check mark I put on my to-do list, was just another reminder that I'm not only not sailing, but I'm probably not going to sail for a good 3-4 months. I've learned so much over the last two years, particularly this last season, and now I have to just go home and put it all on hold. I get more and more inclined to sail her down South in the Winter from now on, so I can at least go get my sailing fix every month or so! (..but then I'd have to pay double slip fees for half the year, buy enormous amounts of gas to get there, etc!)

So, a sense of accomplishment tinged with frustration. But, given a balmy Spring (Where's that damned global warming when you really need it?!) I could be back on the water in less than three months!