Tuesday 28^th January 2014

As the title suggests, the boat has been hauled and is now on the hard at Norsand Boatyard in Whangarei.  I always get a bit nervous when the boat is hauled, but this time it was very different.  They do not use a travel lift here, but haul the boat up a ramp on a cradle which it then sits on in the yard.  The cradle was in the water waiting for us when we arrived, and we were gently pulled into place between four arms which were then pulled up to the sides of the boat.  Having made sure we were sitting correctly on the base of the cradle, we were then gently pulled out of the water.  No fuss.  No worry.  Wonderful.

We were gently guided by ropes between the cradle arms.                           It was a wet, grey day, in the tail end of cyclone June.

Dave winds the arms up snug against the side of the boat...                        ...and then uses a pole to check that the keel is positioned correctly.

Steve and Fred (Kind of Blue) adjust the bow line....                                        ...and Kevin gently pulls us up the ramp.

Almost out of the water.                                                                                              The bottom looks good, just a bit of skirt on the wings.

All is well, so up she goes, further up the ramp.                                                  Almost there, where she will get a power wash to clean her bottom.

All clean, S-F is put into place on the hard.

Thanks to Kevin and Dave for a very professional and hassle-free haulout.