So this past week (Tuesday, actually) we put Blue Turtle back in the water. She’d been on the hard for about 11 days at Olsen Marine Services. We had her hauled out to have the bottom painted along with some other repairs:

• Blisters/gel coat repaired
• Removed a Trillogy dinghy lift system (it’s for sale, by the way!)
• Four thru-hulls replaced
• Stuffing box hose replaced
• Propeller removed and balanced

Now that she’s back in the water, Blue Turtle is in good shape structurally and ready to cruise. We do have a few small projects in the works like adding new dinghy lift davits (St. Croix) and refinishing the galley (pulling out an old propane stove and adding a new 2 burner cooktop,tiling the countertops and replacing the galley faucet). Randy and I have a few small weekend trips planned in the coming months and are excited to get out on the water.

In order for Olsen’s to be able to replace the hose to the stuffing box, they had to pull out the shaft to get to it. Since the rudder was in the way, they drilled a hole through the rudder so the shaft could pass through. The hole is minor and will help next time the boat is hauled out if the shaft has to be removed.