Haul Out Day

A sad day for boaters. Our plan was to follow John, Mary and Bob up the Danvers River to Danversport Marina to have the boat hauled out of the water and stored there for the Winter. Our trip was touch and go due to alarming weather forecasts (30-40 knot winds, gusts, 8-10 foot seas). On Friday night, we resigned ourselves to postponing the trip. At 8 am on Saturday, John called to say we were on. Forecasts had been revised downward in severity (forecast revised to 20-25 gusts, 4-6 foot seas). I had a lot of anxiety about the haul out process. How narrow is the river? How much assistance will there be at the dock? My concerns were quickly washed away as we headed out behind Friends and Vivid. The Danvers River is plenty wide and clearly marked. The haul out process was fairly simple from our end and went smoothly. Bob had an engine malfunction and had to be towed the final 200-300 feet to the haul out station. Our boat is now safely stored next to Vivid and Friends in DanversPort Marina. We celebrated with hermits from a local bakery, which may have been damaged in an explosion on November 22, 2006.