Mike Wolfe Chapter Five "The River Queen Refit." 2005

At the Dock at last!

On our way back in! After 6 Months of haul out.  July to Jan 1999

From October to January was kind of a blur... In this cold season and in my recovery mode I spent most of my time out in the garage working on the genset project. (See below) And once again to the rescue came Carl, Daryl and Pat to help me get the engines so they will start and stop. This included carb kits x 2. Plugs x 16. Oil, coolant, sweat, blood, beer, cables and lots, lots more. (More blur). Finally on a cold January afternoon with a bad cross-wind from the north-west we ventured forth. All seemed ok til I went for reverse to slow down and both outdrives popped up! Then I lost #1 engine and with it my power steering. "Oh, geeze!" Well I was lined up ok and came in on the money. (Remember the crosswind) It did not seem to me that we were going that fast... Bang! Scraaaatch! And we were in...

There is one good thing about having your boat out of the water. You don't have to worry about it sinking! It might fall over in the yard but it's not going to sink. So now you lie in bed at night and think "Did I turn off the water?" "Is that sea cock closed?" "Should I jump in the truck and run down there and check?" No, it will be fine...

The next morning I just had to pop down nice and early to put my mind at ease. It seemed a little low in the water when I pulled up but no, it's just me feeling apprehensive, I tell myself. "Don't I wish" When I opened the floor much to my surprise I found at least 9" inches of water in the bottom! Ooh, the words I said! Well I don't know the math but 48' of taperd vee keel 9" up I would guess to be a couple hundred gallons. "Important Tip" Always, always have your bilge pumps set up and working in the auto mode! I of course was not ready due to the over-taxing of the boat budget. To remove the water I used my trusty Shop vack.

My first crew clockwise from me (Red hat)

Wife Deborah, Son Maxwell, Son Samuel, Buds Daryl & Patrick.

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