Next month, if all goes as planned, Intermezzo will be loaded onto the deck of a ship and transported back to the Sea of Cortez, which will be our home waters for a while.
The current "loading window" is between April 5th and 20th in Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale). The window will be narrowed down as a specific ship is "nominated" for the transport. Between now and then, I will be completing a bunch of boat projects, preparing Intermezzo for loading and transport and moving the boat from here in Lake Worth to Fort Lauderale. I figure on departing here at least a week before the earliest possible loading date.
Preparing the boat for transport is similar to preparing it for a layup on land. The sails need to be taken off, the dinghy covered and secured, water maker pickled, the fridge/freezer defrosted and cleaned, food removed, cabins and lockers secured, mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems shutdown. Nothing difficult, but in order to continue living aboard the boat, many tasks have to wait to be done until the day before loading. It can be pretty intense.
My list of boat projects to tackle over the next month is pretty long and includes two major ones: replacing the standing rigging (the wires holding up the mast) and upgrading the engine charging system. I'll hire a rigger for the former, do the latter myself.
It's going to be a busy month.
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| Yachts being transported by ship. (Image courtesy of Peters & May) |
