When Ashley called to say she was coming in from San Fransico to to get Yeoman XXXII off the ship from the UK, I offered her my couch and my help.

So she arrived and we got up early and headed up to Palm Beach. We stopped at Cracker Boy Boat Works first and made sure all the details were in order and then over to the Port where we were told we had to go to another location to check in and get badges before we could get inside. So off we went and filled out the paperwork and showed our drivers licenses and gave up our fingerprints on a digital scanner... 4 fingers each hand...(guess we better not rob any banks) and then back to the port.

Once there we were told we were not allowed in without an escort and since we didn't bring dates (hahaha), we had to wait for their guy to escort us in to where we could park. Then we walked over to the ship...where they let us climb aboard and they even put a ladder up to Yeoman for us so we could get aboard and put the steering wheels on so that when they dropped her in the water, she'd be ready to go. Only problem was that we had with us a new throttle cable too. Ashley had been warned that they broke it on the way to loading on to the ship so she thought she could just install it and we'd motor out of there. Ah, the best laid plans!!! Well, instead of our 1pm unloading from the ship, they decided they wanted to get us off before lunch, so the cable was not done. Turns out to be a good thing....that became a bigger project than just broken cable. The 'reason' for it's breaking also had to be sorted out and parts ordered..etc. So I tell you its a good thing because one thing sailboats are not so good at is backing, or making tight turns in windy rough places! Of course, when you don't want wind, you get 25-30kts and that's what we had. It was all we could do, even with the big fenders out, to hold her off the ship when they lowered us, and while we waited for SeaTow to come hip-tow us over to the yard. So, though I took a BUNCH of photos that day, I'll just post a few that show the event.

First look at Yeoman when we walked by the ship.

Ashley walking up to the boat on top of the ship.

Lifting her off the ship

Looking up at her from the deck.

Tied to SeaTow and backing out.

Still backing out

In the haulout slip at Cracker Boy Boat Yard

And out of the water again!

So a big sigh of releif that all went well and no damage to the boat and now she has to be made ready for Key West when Ashley gets back to town in January.

p.s. If you want to see the rest of the photos, go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefsail/sets/72157611544971629/

To be continued... delivery story follows.