Wednesday November 2nd, High and Dry

Written by Jack van Ommen on November 2nd, 2011

It is 6.30 p.m. I am in my favorite wireless connection cafe, having an Ouzo. The back pack is sitting in the Ferry office. The ferry leaves at 40  minutes after midnight. So I have a 6 more hours to kill. All went well with the trip to the haul out facility, yesterday morning. “Marvin” was already at the dock waiting their turn to be put on the hard. You might remember me meeting Rien and Gerda in the Khios Marina in September. They are the ones who told me about this storage option. I am forever grateful to them. It has been a very good experience. The yard did a very professional job. Instead of a travel lift or a rail ways, this is the first experience I have ever had with these sled/trailers. I am not sure what the English name is for these contraptions. A long trailer is lowered from the launch ramp. The trailer has been set up with screw stanchions to accommodate the draft. Then the trailer brings the boat to the storage location. The trailer is hydraulically lifted off the ground then the support jacks are put in place and the trailer is pulled back. It is a little more time and labor intensive than a travel lift but it is a much smaller investment in equipment and marina facilities. I am impressed.

Gerda and Rien had me over for Cheese pancake dinner, last night. They are also flying to Amsterdam tomorrow morning, via Athens and returning as well in April. I should have taken some pictures of them and their boat interior. They built this steel cutter them selves and Rien is a very skilled amateur boat builder and wood worker. I was very impressed with their choice of  interior materials and the workmanship.

Monday night I bid Berndt and Birgit “Auf Wiedersehen” after they came to dinner on “Fleetwood”.  I enjoyed their company very much and I’m sure we’ll meet up again in the Spring.

 

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