Did I mention...

That the DAY we were flying to Texas for the Christmas holidays, we had an EMERGENCY haul out? Well we did!

Not our fish

We were packing and stashing in preparation for leaving Moondance. Things were going well until Doug tried to close a thru-hull fitting and it wouldn't close and water was flowing into the boat. That's not good!

Doug reacted quickly and called Gentry's Marina to see if they could haul us out.  They could and within an hour we were at their dock dismantling the wind generator (and other items). All this time, water is still coming in - good thing the bilge pump is working.

Next, need to find a crew to replace the thru-hull, plus paint the bottom while we have it out of the water.

Thru-hull

All this time, I was thinking we weren't going to be able to make our trip to Texas and trying not to cry...

Well, we got Moondance prepped, paperwork completed, found the crew and are just waiting for the stands to be put in place so that we can get back on the boat. Then it rained - buckets of rain.  All of our hatches are open and our luggage (and Christmas presents) are in the cockpit getting soaked and all we could do was watch.  That's when I had my meltdown!

Nope, we didn't catch this one either

But, after lots of stress and lots of rushing around, it all worked out and we made it to the airport in plenty of time to catch our flight - whew.

Doug did an excellent job of preparing Moondance, getting the crew and work lined up, plus dealing with me.

We were fortunate that Tim and Jane on Midnight Blue were there to watch over Moondance when she was put back in the water - secured the lines, adjust the packing, and fixed the bilge pump. Don't know what we would have done without you guys, Thanks!

So, it all worked out, but it was stressful and expensive.

Lesson learned - we should have replaced all thru-hulls while we were in Mexico!