The Big Move - Prep

Friday, Aug. 2nd - 5th - The big move prep

Friday - Lawrence helped me unbend, fold and bag the sails.  Afterwhich, we unshipped the mizzen boom.  When Gary and his crew from McDonald's Hudson Bay Resort were ready, we moved TAO over to the float in front of the crane.  With Gary on the crane, and the rest of us turning wrenches, we had the masts unstepped and staged for unrigging in a little over an hour.  Gary was a real master, maneuvering the masts between the crane, equipment and other boats in the yard in order to set them down in the staging area.
While all of this was going on, it was raining - a lot!  The first day of rain in over a month and down came 2 inches on the day I've scheduled to unstep the masts.  I had to change into dry clothes three times to prevent going hypothermic.  Who would of thought it would rain in August?

Saturday - Unrigging day.  All the shrouds, spreaders, and instruments were stripped from the masts and labled for re-assembly in Washington.   Afterwards, the masts were wrapped with industrial strength saran wrap used to pack parts pallets.  Once the masts were ready, attention turned to getting TAO ready to ship.  The bow anchor and 200 feet of chain were removed.  I also packed up the spares and extra paint.  The last project for the day was to remove the bow pulpit.  This proved to be a bugger.  I got the retaining bolts out but was unable to budge the pulpit loose from the deck fittings.  I didn't have the right equipment available.  But for the most part, we were ready for the big move on Tuesday.  We decided to head home on Sunday and return on Monday to finish up.

Monday -  The trip back to Bayview, ID was an adventure.  On highway 90 just shy of George, Wa, we had a blowout.  The right rear tire of my truck looked like it went through a cheese grater.  No problem, just change to the spare and we'd be off.  Not!  Accessing the spare under the truck bed, I discovered the tow hitch mount was interfering with the bolt that holds up the spare mount.  Six bolts and dropping the tow hitch, finally I could get to the spare.  While changing out the flat tire, a WSDOT assistance truck pulled up and together we finished the job and got back on the road.  Just outside of Spokane, we had another blowout.  This time it was the right front tire.  That was enough.  Time to find the nearest Les Schwab.  Two hours and 4 new tires later, problem solved.

In Bayview on Monday afternoon, I went to work on the bow pulpit.  I sprayed the deck fittings with PB Blaster, and then proceeded with other projects to let it do it's magic.  A few hours later, I came back and tried to remove the bow pulpit with some well-placed smacks from my dead blow hammer.  No joy.  That gave me an idea.  I had the bottle jack from my truck handy due to the earlier tire changing maneuvers.  So I scrounged up some blocking lumber from the yard and used the bottle jack to lift the bow pulpit off the deck fittings.  The jack worked like a champ.

After the bow pulpit was removed, I removed the lifelines, stanchions and cleaned up any remaining deck hardware.  We spent Monday night on the boat in anticipation of the haulout on Tuesday morning.  Just a wakeup away from getting Ta' Ata Ori on her way to her new home.  I can hardly sleep, while I mentally consider if everything is ready.  Tomorrow - The Big Move!

Change of Command

Thursday, August 1st 2013 - I met with Lawrence, the current owner of SV 'Ta Ata Ori' aboard TAO in Bayview Idaho.  I presented Lawrence with "the big check", and after some pleasantries and logistics discussions, we were on our way to the nearby town of  Athol to find a notary to finalize the transfer paperwork.  Arriving at the Athol Community Center, we were informed that the notary had taken the day off, but there was a public notary at the bakery across the street.  So off Lawrence and I go to the bakery and indeed they were able to notarize the USCG transfer agreement and the Bill of Sale.  Alas, the bakery did not have any rum cake, so back to Ta Ata Ori we went.  Lawrence had a bottle of Pyrat Rum in the galley, and poured each of us a shot.  With a toast to the new skipper, a slug of rum and a handshake, the change of command was complete.  I had just become the new owner of the quintessential Mariner 40.  Hull # 56.  The queen of Lake Pend O'Reille, veteran of two Pacific cruises, 'Ta Ata Ori' or TAO for short.
My first order of business as the new skipper - Get TAO ready for "The Big Move".  In five days, TAO would be lifted out of Lake Pend O'Reille, Idaho, placed on a truck, and moved to the Salish Sea - aka The Puget Sound, WA.