May 13, 2008 -- Motel Creston, San Carlos

Haul out day. Another day of chores and travel preparations. Our haul out was scheduled for 1 pm, but there was plenty to do before hand. First thing, I helped Don move his boat over to the sling launch crane. Then I drove Sandy over to the Marina office with our laundry. Back at the boat, I gave the stanchions and other stainless a polish job, and then lowered the mast. Around noon I hitched up the boat trailer and maneuvered into position alongside the sling launch. Shortly after 1 pm the Marina crew walked over and made ready to pull our boat out. They were good at their job, sliding heavy straps under the hull and attaching them to the lifting cables. As the boat rose into the air, I could see that our friend Arturo had missed a few places when he'd cleaned the hull in Santa Rosalia. It wasn't too bad, but I wasn't looking forward to sliding under the boat trailer to finish the job. The Marina crew gently lowered our boat onto the trailer, thus officially completing our cruise. Once again, Chinook could be considered a trailered vehicle rather than a cruising sailboat, at least until she again is placed in the water.

I jockeyed the trailer over to the launch ramp and flushed both outboard motors with fresh water. Next, I moved the boat to a nearby concrete slab so I could complete Arturo's job of cleaning the bottom. It's very sloppy work, laying on one's back, scrubbing slime and marine organisms off a hull which is only inches above your face. However, I'd put myself into this position with eyes wide open, opting to scrub instead of committing to the bottom painting cycle. It took nearly an hour to get things cleaned up.

Then it was time for us to get cleaned up. We drove down the boulevard and pulled into the Creston Motel. It's an older place, fairly clean, but with some deficiencies. The doors don't seal very well, and the air conditioning in our first room didn't work. We relocated into another room with operating air conditioning. They have a swimming pool, and I went for a swim before hitting the shower. We were both very tired following the day's exertions, and we retired early.