Mast off, hull clean, and a quiet drive home without her.

By Ilse – Breskens Yachtservice – Wednesday 7 October

There are days when you know everything is planned, and it still feels different once the moment arrives.

Today was one of those days.

Adriana was at the shipyard in Breskens, ready for her winter stay. There is plenty on the programme for the coming months: maintenance and checks, replacing the radar, inspecting the rigging and boom, servicing the furlers, replacing the anodes, fitting new windows, and a long list of other jobs. In spring, the antifouling follows.

But before any of that could start, she first had to come out of the water.

And the mast had to come off.

A Little Nervous

We were fairly nervous when we left that morning. Fortunately, everything went very smoothly. We had taken almost all our belongings off the boat beforehand and put them in the car, so only a minimum was left on board.

Almost everything, that is.

On the way, we realised we had forgotten to empty the rubbish bin. And the coffee grounds are still in the machine.

Oh well. Next week. 😊

Then the real work could begin.

The standing rigging was loosened, the boom came off, and one by one the connections to the mast were disconnected.

And then came the electrical cables.

At one point they were all dangling out of the mast. For a moment I thought: how will they ever put all this back together?

Rationally, of course, I know this is everyday work for the people at the yard. But when it is your boat being slowly taken apart, it feels different.

The wooden blocks also had to be removed before the mast could come out.

📷Photo — cables and rigging being disconnected

There Goes the Mast

Then the Manitou arrived.

With four pairs of helping hands, the mast was lifted carefully out of Adriana. It is impressive to watch such an enormous mast slowly come free of the boat and hang completely clear in the air.

Once on land, it was laid on a special trailer, which left almost immediately for the winter hangar. That is where the work on the mast can begin, including taking off the furlers. Piet can then bring those to Medemblik for servicing.

And then we looked at Adriana again.

Without a mast.

What a strange sight.

Hold On, This Is Apparently Yard Life

As happens at a shipyard, a day like this does not follow a strict schedule.

A pilot boat came in that urgently needed attention. We watched as it was given a new propeller in no time at all. It was fascinating to see. Everyone knew exactly what to do. A well-oiled machine.

And us?

We did what you apparently do at a moment like this. We settled in the sun on the aft deck, in our gin-and-tonic seats, coffee in hand. From there we had a perfect view of all the activity.

Not a bad waiting room.

And perhaps this is simply yard life: waiting, watching, drinking coffee and learning a lot along the way.

And Then… Out of the Water

Then it was finally time.

The big blue boat lift came over to Adriana and lifted her carefully out of the water.

We had never experienced this with her before and, honestly, found it quite tense. You know your boat mostly afloat, exactly as she should be. Seeing her suddenly hanging completely above the water is a special moment.

And of course we were dying to see what would appear below the waterline.

The first reaction?

Relief.

The underwater hull was quite dirty, but the growth was much better than we had expected. No massive mussel colonies or other big surprises.

Small vongole were clinging to the anodes, and because of the growth the propeller had trouble folding in properly. But overall we were mostly happy with what we saw.

And then came my new favourite yard activity: the pressure washer.

The Colouring Book in Reverse

What an incredible difference a pressure washer makes.

Layer by layer the green disappeared from the hull and the original white surface came back.

I have to admit: it looked quite therapeutic.

A bit like a colouring book, but the other way round.

You don’t add colour. You remove the green until a white background appears again.

I could happily spend hours doing that.

Slowly our Adriana re-emerged from everything she had collected during her time in the water.

And in the end, there she stood.

High and dry.

Without a mast.

Ready for her winter.

See You in March, Adriana

There is still a lot planned for the coming months.

It is part of it. Adriana is twenty years old, and we want to get her ready, step by step, for the adventures still ahead of us.

Still, it felt strange to finally get into the car and drive home without her.

The past months were so full of her. Jobs, sailing, making plans, working things out, and above all getting to know better and better how everything on board works.

And now she stands there. Without a mast. On dry land. Waiting for the winter works.

I miss her already.

Hopefully all the work over the coming months goes smoothly.

And for once, as far as we are concerned, winter is welcome to pass quickly.