Preparing for Winter

Pulling the boat out one last time for 2012

Well we've come to the end of another wonderful season with Seapickle II, and normally this starts the most depressing time in a boater's life....winter :-( Part of the reason we bought the trailer was to open up our storage options and more specifically so we could store the boat in heated storage instead of the outdoor storage we have used in past years. Once we had plenty of space cleared out in the warehouse we still had one major obsticle to overcome, the top of the boats arch was 4-6 inches taller than the opening of the garage door. We spent the last month cleaning and clearing space all while assuming the boat would fit so I was determined to find a way to squeeze under that door! Our only option would be to remove the boats arch.

One of the 6 bolts holding the arch on

After removing a few panels in the cockpit we were able to easily access the 6 bolts that hold the arch to the hull of the boat. We were unsure how heavy the arch was so we asked Ben's dad Bill to be there to hold the arch while Ben removed the bolts. Once all 6 bolts were removed we were shocked at how light this arch really was.

Dana posing with the dropped arch.

We set our V birth fill-in cushion on the helm and rested the arch on it without any problems and now the boat cleared the door with ease!

Bill standing by Seapickle II in her new winter home

Dana showing that there is plenty of room for those winter projects!

Once under the door we had plenty of ceiling height inside the building so we raised the arch back up, after all we don't want that big arch getting in the way of our mid winter cocktail parties we're planning ;-)

Stay tuned for some winter projects!