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| A Beautiful Cool Morning In New Rochelle, With Crystal Blues At The Bottom Of The Ramp |
Packing up the boat after 20 years was always going to be difficult - predictably it was physically exhausting and emotionally a roller coaster ride. However we were blessed by the weather gods, with cool but calm conditions and absolutely no rain for the 10 days that we spent sorting, sifting and packing for our move back to Australia.
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| Truck Loaded, Ready To Go |
We booked a large palletised crate from UPakWeShip, an innovative shipping agency that provides fixed price point to point deliveries of personal possessions around the globe. They delivered the crate to a nearby warehouse and we only had to deliver our goods there and pack the crate ourselves.
Just how many items did we need to ship ? A lot of gear was donated to charity, plus all the paints, chemicals and painting gear went to the Wooden Boat Shop at the Reedville Fisherman's Museum. Equipment was donated to friends and local businesses. Still, five times we went back to buy more cartons, more packaging tape and more timber to protect the goods in transit.
As the boat was being "sold in salvage" we were able to remove all our tools, personal effects. galley equipment, IT and AV gear, spares parts and the like. However we had no idea how much that would amount to.
Amazingly, in the end we packed and moved 68 cartons, weighing in total around 1800 pounds. Each day we'd empty another locker and the cartons just kept coming. Each carton was numbered, a spreadsheet was created to track the carton contents and then all the cartons were moved into a nearby self storage facility.
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| Loading The Top Layer Into The Crate At The Depot |
Once packing was completed we loaded all the cartons and goods into a rented U-Haul truck late one afternoon. Next morning we set of for the transport depot, where we assembled the crate and then loaded it with our earthly possessions. We were fortunate to have the generous support and assistance of friend and fellow sailor Paul Osmolskis, who lumped and lifted with us until the crate was loaded.
It took us three and a half hours to complete the loading - at the end we all signed the crate with a big fat marking pen, labelled it everywhere and kissed it on its way to Australia. Going home.
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| The Last Layer In Place, We Contemplate Future Adventures |
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| Job Done - Signed & Sealed. Special Thanks To Paul Osmolskis For Working Hard Alongside Us |
My heart is breaking for you. I hope you were able to have a few laughs as you found lost treasures in the bottom of lockers and maybe re-lived some run times based on an odd object in a dark corner locker.
ReplyDeleteOn the bright side (well, possibly) ...
ReplyDeleteI'm getting to the point where it's about time to let go of the boat, but have taken no steps in that direction. I remain in something of a maritime prison. Perhaps your recent misfortune is a blessing of sorts, considering that you both will inevitably find another adventure worth doing. Check back in another 20 years.
Unbelievable! And after dodging all the fishing boats in places like Indonesia!!! Very sad to hear that it has all ended like this. Surely the American equivalent of the UK Marine Accident and Investigation Branch will investigate and apportion blame? Once the finger is pointed at the fisho you can pursue them for compo? Not that that helps now. Wishing you both better luck in the future. Kit and Sally Johnson s/v Skerryvore
ReplyDelete