Adventure 455: Boats, 32

March 7, 2018

Real time finds George doing pretty well. He's healthy, active, and back to a modicum of normal life. He's still hanging around with his main squeeze, Vina. His memory is spotty, but we're managing with regular monitoring. So all is pretty good in George's world.

As for us, we've had a bit of excitement. Our sailboat, The Eagle, sank last week in her slip at Panhandle Yacht Club on Coeur 'Alene Lake. It's a sad story, but pales on the tragedy when compared to life threatening disease. for example. So, while unwanted, the boat problem is fixable. All it takes is a little good fortune, and several thousand dollars. She sits in forty feet of water. The diver will make his assessment next week. He'll take video of the entire running rigging to determine if it has been damaged in any way. He'll also attempt to find the breach in the hull. Then, he and his partner will make a plan to raise the Eagle. It's not only expensive, but extremely dangerous. The method is to tie inflatable bags under the hull with straps, sort of like a saddle around a horse. The bags are slowly filled with air, and the boat rises. If the bags stay directly under the boat, she will rise straight up, assuming the guys with the lines around the mast can keep her vertical. One problem when she went down is that her bow slipped forward under the dock. Once she's at the surface, they'll pump the water out of the cabin. Once that occurs, the righting action of the keel will return. At that time, it will also be obvious what caused her to sink in the first place because water should be coming into the boat from the same place. The mostly likely culprit is one of the thru hull fittings froze and burst, which of course the insurance doesn't cover. They will pay $5,000 toward raising her. The job will likely run triple that. After she's stable in the slip, another expensive piece of equipment will be needed - a barge with a large crane. This crew will safely cut the mast from the boat so the boat can then be towed down the Spokane River to where another expensive piece of equipment - another large crane, this one on land. This crane will lift the boat out of the water onto an expensive large specialty trailer which will then transfer the boat to the landfill where another expensive piece of equipment will crunch it up with its powerful jaws. Eventually, the Eagle will suffer an ignominious death, it will likely cost between $30,000-$60,000. Hopefully, it all goes smoothly, no one dies, and in a year it will be a distant memory. So it goes.

 George doing his bridge exercise. He's really improved.

 He's does a little band work, too.

 Here's Joel helping George with his "clam shell" exercise.

 I'm thinking about putting a sign on the the mast that says, "Free for the taking."