There is more to the end of the sailing season than just taking the boat out of the water, as we spoke about in our last blog post.
After Añejo is out of the water part of the haul-out process is to have the hull power washed and all the barnacles taken off. (Those little barnacles not only produce the strongest adhesive naturally on the planet but they cause drag when we are sailing). this is the time to remove them. Now she will be all ready for sailing season in the spring.
This a shot we don't see that often, Añejo and my Jeep are in the same parking lot, it is always funny to see them side by side like this. This is the true sign the season is over.
This week we also took a trip to Doyle Sailmaker in Salem, MA to have our head sail/genoa sail cleaned and checked for next year. A visit to the sailmaker is one of my favorite things to do in the fall because like visiting any sewing manufacturer there are fabric and sewing machines. But when we are talking about sails that means yards and yards of fabric and sewing machines in wells in the floor and the floor essentially is your table. Someday I want to learn how to make sails and be that person in the well.
Now you might have noticed that our sails are Neil Pryde sails, they are the official sail for Beneteau Sailboats, but we bring our sails to Doyle for maintenance. Not only does Doyle Sailmaker make sails for 420 small sailboats to the Maltese Falcon they also take care of everyone's sails too.
Hopefully, when we go to pick up the sails we can get a little tour and take some pics so you can see what the sailmaker's job looks like.
Lastly, here is the final step to putting the sailboat away, putting the cover on. We are fortunate enough to have a custom cover for our boat and there is no need to wrap our boat in plastic for the winter. One thing we are really into is reusing and less waste.
Captain Birch putting the cover on Añejo (taken a couple of years ago)