On the hard for the winter

It was good to see our friend Prairie Gold today. She is ready for the winter. Inspection of her hull shows she is in good shape and that the Hurricane didn't cause any damage. Not too much bottom paint will be needed in the spring so that's good. I took of remaining sails, cleaning solutions and the liferaft. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will put her canvas cover on for the winter. I am very happy with the canvas cover as this year we are effectively covering her for free.

Prairie Gold at Marina Bay

Prairie Gold came through hurricane Sandy without a scratch. On Thursday November 1st 2012 we motored over to Marina Bay in Quincy and docked her ready to take her out of the water. This season has been excellent sailing. We ended up achieving 86 legs with the longest solo sail of 82nm and with a four season accumulated 7,024 nm on Prairie Gold. We sailed as far north as Bar Harbor, saw amazing bioluminescence near Portland Maine. We caught fish - only bluefish this season - that tasted fantastic when freshly barbecued.

After surviving Sandy my concerns about leaving Prairie Gold on the water for future winters are now allayed. We will store her on the hard this winter (given that this has already scheduled and paid for), but in the future leave her in Constitution marina, and merely short haul for bottom painting. In this way we can sail late in the season and early in the new season. I would love a winter holiday sail – even if only for 30 minutes.

Repairs over the winter are minor. We need to replace the spinnaker halyard that has chafed. There is a minor leak in a screw and we need to address a leak in the raw water cooling system drain plug. We will take the sails to be cleaned and inspected for any wear and tear and then get Prairie Gold ready for a new season.