Before I blog, I want to say I’m thinking of everyone affected by the hurricane and wish them my best. We were lucky to be in a spot that Sandy missed.

So it may look like Matt is doing all the work, but that’s only because I took all the pictures. I just wanted to point out I worked hard too.

We arrived at the marina in St. Augustine on Wednesday and have been working hard to get ready to launch (yesterday – we are now in the water).

First up: Open of the boat and check she’s dry. Yup – very dry, making us very happy. We ran a de-humidifier over the summer to help.

Next: Wash the marina dirt off the boat.

Once the boat was clean, we waxed the hulls.

After that, it was on to maintenance. We prioritized things that need to be done while the boat is out of the water. We won’t put the sails back up or deploy our safety gear until after we launch.

We hired marina staff to paint the bottom of Mattina. We scrubbed the dinghy and painted its bottom with the same bottom paint used on Mattina.

The last step: Check thru hulls are clear and working.

Today is the day we’ve been waiting for. We launch this morning and then we move on board.