Liquid Gold and Sad Goodbyes....

Maryland was cold wet and miserable when we departed at the end of November, saying goodbye to Alexia propped up on her chocks, wearing her winter coat but otherwise exposed to the chills.

The preceding six weeks had been hard work.  The boat was stripped, cleaned, polished, serviced, greased and wrapped up.   Big decisions had to be made about what to keep and what to dispose of - 8 years of 'things'  -  in the end we took a small storage unit at the marina and packed it to capacity.

The worst part had been the winterizing of all the pipes, filters and tanks - gallon after gallon of pink winterizing fluid disappeared into the engine, generator, aircon, holding tanks, water heater, taps you name it, wherever a fluid could flow it went. 

This particular job took us two days to complete - one of us pouring liquid in at one end and the other making sure it was coming out the other  - amazing how just how much was needed - 35 gallons was our final total.

Here it is - liquid gold!  Bright pink dye ensures that you can see it pumping out over board.  Its make up is eco-friendly and apparently harmless to creatures/plant life in the water..... it will remain in the pipework and systems until Alexia is refloated and with the promise that it remains liquid in temperatures as low  -50F we felt secure nothing would freeze and cause damage whilst she was laid up.

  
Here's the Girl!   A friend on another boat sent us this picture a few weeks after we had left the States - it reminded us just how much we missed her but the grey sky looked as grim as ever.

Most boatowners had opted to shrink wrap their boats - it's big business here at the marina.  There was row after row of  large white hulks all preparing to sit out the winter.  Shrinkwrapping is a great service : 3 guys arrive + roll of shrink wrap + heat gun + whistling & singing whilst they work  = Job Done! but it is expensive and can take up to two days fiddling around sealing tiny areas.

However, Alexia already had a custom made cover which we were determined to fit  except  the formula was slightly different :   2  elderly guys (us) + roll of heavy damp canvas + no heat anywhere + lips too frozen to whistle = Job not quite finished..........we had to depart and the Yard completed the job for us!!