It's always a sad day when ORION is hauled out for the season, and this past Sunday was no different. It's been a long time since I've actually had a chance to go sailing, and it showed - her deck was covered in bits of crab, shells, and bird droppings. Not a good sight! Furthermore, her bottom was pretty after so many weeks of neglect. After clearing her deck as much as I could, I brought ORION into shore where I unstepped the mast and unloaded some of her equipment. After that, I brought her to the Waterford launch ramp where my father was waiting with my car and trailer, and we hauled her out. A power washer made easy work of the growth on the bottom and it helped to clean the deck; soon she'll be trailered closer to home where she'll spend the winter in a garage. I like to think of this not as the end of the 2016 sailing season, but the start of the 2017 sailing season!