It was a beautiful day today, a perfect day for sailing. Instead, I spent the early afternoon pulling ORION out of the water and securing her for the approaching Hurricane Henri. Earlier in the week, I weighed my options for hauling her - Three Belles Marina? Mago Point Marina? My parents’ beach? During the last storm at the beginning of July, I used Three Belles Marina. Unfortunately, in an effort to improve their launch ramp, they ended up making it extremely shallow, so it was nearly impossible to re-launch ORION even at peak high tide. I didn’t want to try to haul ORION out at my parents’ beach since I wouldn’t be able to get up there at high tide, otherwise I would have tried it.
That left Mago Point Marina right next to the state boat ramp. I gave them a call, and sure enough, they had an empty spot for me, and I’d be able to keep ORION there until Tuesday. Perfect. So, today, I motored over to the launch ramp where my father was waiting with the trailer. Although the floating docks had already been removed in advance of the hurricane, we were able to get her out without any problems, and we brought her over to the empty spot at the Marina next to a large fishing boat. We removed the rudder, sail, boom, and secured her halyards with bungees. We strapped her to the trailer, made sure her seacocks were open, closed and locked the cabin, and wished her the best. I sure hope she makes out okay over the next couple of days.
Hauling ORION out of the water.
She looks tiny next to the fishing boat KOREY J.