On the Hard

Sad or Glad Day?

Well, it’s officially the end of the 2022 sailing season. SV Zeke E Boy was hauled out of Lake Michigan last Friday and ‘on the hard’ for the next ~ 6 months. As you talk to sailors and boaters in the marinas, they all say, “It’s a Sad Day” as we walk past carrying things off the boat or folding up the sails. Kyle started feeling a bit sad … but some of this is perpetuated by the negative talk. When things change, yes, there’s a bit of sad feelings, but honestly, I’m excited for the next season, for the next adventure.

We have so many plans for the fall / winter, our sailboat adventures don’t diminish, they just look a little different.  Instead of taking her out on the water, we’re going to be fixing and cleaning her up.  Hopefully, we’ll get to share some of our changes with you here on our blog or in our monthly email newsletters.

How did we haul her out?

Kyle really wanted to wait until October to take SV Zeke E Boy out of the water.  I was a bit nervous waiting too long in the season, but he’s the captain and I’m the 1st mate, so ultimately, it’s his decision, and I need to support it.  Thankfully, he did agree to schedule the haul out a week earlier than he originally wanted (we do work well together and make compromises for each other).

Weather Watching

We started watching the weather about ~ 2 weeks prior to our scheduled haul out date.  We needed to know the weather in our departure and arrival ports.  If we’ve learned anything this summer, it’s that we are terrible at predicting the weather.  Maybe it’s not all us – we’re using the free weather apps instead of paying for better data … and how much can you really predict the weather?!?

Emmanuel:  God with Us

Once again, God protected us in our sailing adventures.  We found a beautiful weather window from New Buffalo to St. Joe – even though it was almost a week early.  We’d rather be early than late – plus we got to check off two more items on our sailing milestones for the summer (journey to a new harbor and overnight at a new marina).

Because we were so early, we were able to work with Anchor’s Way Marina and move up our haul out date!

Wakey, Wakey 🌤️

Kyle didn’t sleep a wink the night before haul out.  The weather turned overnight, and we were rocking and rolling with the waves.  I think Kyle looked at every NOAA buoy in Lake Michigan.  The weather was anywhere from 20 – 35 knots with nearly 11 foot waves registered in the middle of the lake!  I would not want to be in that!  We went for a last walk on the north pier to check out the wind and waves crashing – even the water was sloshing in the channel.

Although it was rocky, we stayed in a perfect spot at West Basin to undock, push off and motor out.  Because the wind was pushing us toward the dock, I could stay on the boat, so there was no fear of me missing my ride ⛵. 

Yeah, I’m gonna need a lift

Once we were out of the marina, it didn’t feel too terrible, but maybe I didn’t notice it because I was focused on the next hurdle.  Instead of using the radio, I decided to call the bridge operators directly from my mobile phone, and it worked out beautifully. 

They were very friendly, and Kyle navigated right down the center.

Folks are so helpful

Again, I was nervous about docking in a new location, but we had 4 workers from Anchor’s Way helping us.  It was the best experience I’ve ever had!  We rarely had help docking this summer, so these guys made my job very easy.  After we were tied up, we learned that only a boat length away from the dock, the water drafted only 4’, so we would’ve been stuck. 

Whew, another area where God was watching out for us!

I quickly worked to take everything off the boat.  Everything?  Well, we want to take everything except the tools needed for winter projects and the cleaning supplies.   Since we’ll be sanding and replacing plumbing lines and toilets, anything left on the boat will likely get dirty, so we want most everything out.  I didn’t want the team waiting on me, but I was able to haul out 3 or 4 more loads while Kyle was trying to flush the engine water and replace it with antifreeze.  In the end, he wasn’t able to get the hose off, so we needed the kind folks at Anchor’s Way to do it for us.  Eventually, we’ll learn how to do it. 

2022 Sailing Season is Over

We watched the team get her up on the travel lift and out of the water.  Our 2022 sailing season is officially over, and I felt anything but sad.  Mostly, I was relieved.  We did it! 

It was a pretty stressful morning, but it couldn’t have been more seamless.  We took a break, got breakfast and let the guys work on moving her to her winter spot and up on jack stands.  One final look before we closed up the boat and walked away. Here she’ll sit for the winter.

What’s left?

Well, there’s a lot of winter projects on the docket, but before we call SV Zeke E Boy winterized, the final step is to shrink wrap her so she stays protected and “warm” this winter. Part of this process includes building a structure that we can work under as well as take pressure off the shrouds. And then we can shrink wrap SV Zeke E Boy for the winter.

Eventually, I would like to make a canvas boat cover that we can reuse each winter to “think before we shrink”, but we didn’t have time this year, and plus I will need to learn to sew! So … for a few years, we will plan on recycling our boat shrink wrap.

Oh Happy Day!

At the end of the day, we are very grateful for a safe, first sailing season on Lake Michigan.  I can see why some sailors are sad, but there are no tears in my eyes.  I’m ready for the next adventure!

Tell us What You Think

Let us know what you think of our sailing adventures by sharing your feedback in the comments below. Do you have advice on how you haul out?  We want to get better. And we’d love to hear from you!

– Kara from Zeke Life

Live like Zeke
You’re such a good boy!