So I flew down to check on Arcas and make sure everything got there in one piece. Also, I wanted to meet the contractor who is doing much of the work on the boat - Chris Carl. He's been very helpful so far.
The first big news - the boat made it! In one piece, no less. Whew. The folks at American Boat Carriers delivered it without a scratch - dirty from the trip, but no damage found. As you saw below, we spent a lot of time packing it. Kudos to Crowleys as well for packing the mast properly - there didn't seem to be any damage to that either.
We're keeping the boat at Crackerboy Boat Yard in Ft. Lauderdale - one of the recommended DIY boatyards that allows independent contractors.
Chris has been very helpful, and recommended someone to assemble the dodger, Steve, who I also met on this trip. We're getting as much protection from a dodger as possible given the relatively low boom. We reviewed the list of items - anchor roller, watermaker, batteries, solar panels, etc that we need for the trip, and discussed how to best stage it over the next month and a half.
In other news, Speedboat, and a couple other racey boats such as a King 40 and Swan 42 were also in the boatyard getting work done. In fact, Arcas was located about 40 feet from Speedboat's mast. Their PBO backstays were thicker than my stanchions. Madness!
Back to Chicago to wrap up work and starting packing while the boat is getting prepped.
Comments