North Channel Honeymoon Sail Day 4

7-19-16

 Well once again we woke up in the boat as it sits in the parking lot of the Spanish Marina. No reason to get to excited about getting up as it might be a while before Russell is ready to lift our boat out. We slowly come to life and figured out the plan for the day.
 After talking to Russell at 7 am we have several hours to burn as he told me to come up the river at 1 pm and they could get us out. So we got cleaned up then took a walk to the lodge about a mile or two west of the marina. It was a cute little place with several cabins that they rent out. They did not serve food like a restaurant but did feed the campers. We looked around then walked back to Spanish where we went in search of a antique store. We found it on the northeast side of town but it was closed.
 We grabbed a bite to eat at Dixie Lee Chicken then headed down to the marina to launch the boat and head up the river. It was hard not to show up too early as I was ready to get the boat in the air and try to figure this out. I loaded up my tools that I had brought with us "just in case". Maybe I jinxed us doing that. About 12:30 Cindy pushed me off the dock and away I went.
 The river is dredge up river as well and is marked but the marks are a bit odd in that they stop at one point just past the marina which at that point you are on the northern side of the river. They markers start again about 1/8 mile up river but now they are more towards the southern side of the river. I figured a straight line between the two point was what they intended so that is what I did. At one point I was down to 4 feet of water. So much for 9 feet all the way.
 The guys were waiting on me at the marina and directed me into this small area with a  few slips. It was pretty narrow and with the wind blowing, yes, it was howling again, it made docking a bit challenging. With the Memory Maker all tied up to the dock we went over to get the wood boat out of the lift.

 Not everyday I get to see a 38 foot wood cruiser from 1964. Had I known it was going to be so much work to get this boat out of the lift and back on the hard I would have just put our boat back on the trailer and headed home. I felt even worse than I already did for all the work the guys had to do to get this boat out of the lift. Russell tried to make me feel better and assured me they needed to get it out of the lift anyway as it was not sealing up like it should so they needed to see what they issue was with it. I did not feel much better.
 We finally got our girl in the slings and lifted her out of the water.

 Russell pulled the lift forward and we blocked up the keel so we could remove it and have it stand straight up while we lifted the boat. The keel is cast iron and weighs 400 lbs so I did not want it to fall over on its side as that would have been a pain to stand back up.

 

 With the keel removed I was able to look up into the keel trunk.

 Other than the leaking keel bolts this was the only real sign of damage that I could see. My original thought was that the keel had rubbed on the keel trunk on the ride up but that turned out not to be the case. Instead what made this mark was that when the keel is down it comes to stop against the back of the keel trunk at this one spot. So this small area of fiberglass is trying to stop 400 lbs from swinging too far forward. Other than that we could not see any other obvious area of leaks.
 The keel bolt holes were wet from the water that ran in them so we used a water activated epoxy to stop up the holes and then redrilled them once it hardened. While the epoxy set up Russell ran to Blind River to pick up his atv's for his bear hunting business while Cindy and I went to dinner at a small restaurant east of town. We met back at the marina at 7 pm to re install the keel. We lowered the boat back down and lined up the bolt holes using quick setting 3m 4200 marine sealer. Thirty minute later we had it all back together. Russell was ready to set her back in the water but I suggested we pay the bill first to give the sealer enough time to skim over. Some things you read say it will continue to setup under water but I would prefer to give it as much time as possible to set up.
 After paying the bill which I felt was very reasonable we set her back in the water. No leaks were visible so I shoved off and headed back down the river to out slip at the Spanish Marina. Cindy was waiting for me as I pulled in and we tied the boat up to our slip dock. Finally, we were going to get to spend the night on the water, even if is just in the slip. We felt like we were finally heading in the right direction.
 We got cleaned up then played some cards while Cindy practiced her "Securita, Securita, Securita" radio call for when we head through Little Detroit the next day. Boats call that out over VHF channel 16 before they enter that area to let other boaters know they are coming through as it is not very wide and the only safe place to be in a boat that draws more than a foot or two is right down the middle.  I took one last look at the bolts on both side of the keel trunk and all was dry before we crawled in the V birth. Maybe we lucked out.
 We tried to watch Captain Ron, again, and again I feel asleep shortly after it started. Maybe some night I will make it through that darn movie. At least tonight we had renewed hope when we closed our eyes.