On Wednesday, April 3, we brought the Willie Dawes over to be hauled out at Westland Marina & DIY Boatyard in Titusville. We were here in December of 2022, for the first of our three haul-outs during our Great Loop adventure. This is a very reasonably-priced yard, with very friendly people. They let us live on board while we’re hauled, we can do all our own work, water and electricity are part of the cost, and they have nice hot showers and good laundry facilities so we can clean up after a long days’ work. Thunderstorms and strong winds were predicted for Wednesday so we moved toward shore early, to hover in protection while we waited our turn in the sling. It all went smoothly. Then we gaped at the barnacles. We have never had barnacles on the hull like this. The yardsmen gave us a good pressure-washing, but we still had our work cut out for us. Dan found us each scrapers and sponges and we spent several hours going over the bottom while the skies opened up and the rain poured down. A hot shower never felt so good.
On Thursday I did our laundry and brought my computer to the lounge to do some system updates and Dan spent the morning going over the entire hull with an electric sander. We put our first coat of paint on in the afternoon - Dan wielding a roller affixed to a broom handle, and me with the brush attending all the spots a roller couldn’t handle. Our friends Bob and Tracy from Three Sons came into the Titusville Marina and they stopped by to admire our work. We cleaned up and joined them for dinner at nearby Pier 220. They are just beginning the Great Loop; we gave them some tips for the Canadian canals.
Friday we put on the second coat of paint. After Wednesday’s thunderstorm front, the weather has been just perfect - not too windy, not too hot, and sunny. Great days for painting and letting the coats dry. We aren’t scheduled to launch until Monday morning (April 8) and with the bulk of the work done, we decided to relax a little. We walked to the historic downtown Titusville and had dinner at Rob’s Burgers, then explored the area a little. Titusville has some great parks, and several of them are dedicated to NASA and the space program. There are individual monuments of the astronauts and the different spaceships. There is also a nice little museum on Pine St.
Saturday we had a great breakfast at a great little diner, and took a tour of the Titusville Space Museum. We had a terrific guide named Gordon who told us many stories and pointed out many artifacts donated from both astronauts and NASA engineers and other workers. There are models of the various rockets and launch towers, a layout of Cape Canaveral, and a complete bank of the early computers and machinery that the people who launched the various rockets worked at. It was a very interesting visit, and we got so much out of it with Gordon as our enthusiastic and knowledgable guide.
It’s Sunday, April 7th. The boat work just needs the touch-up painting that is done right before hauling. Dan is spending time in the engine room, I’m settled in the lounge awaiting the load of really dirty things from all the work. The boat looks gorgeous. Dan even waxed the propellor! Later we’ll probably take another walk up town and find a new restaurant for dinner. This haul-out was something of an impulse maneuver, because we had the time on our hands, but we are so glad we did it. Willie obviously needed the care.
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