It’s September 24, 2019. A special day in more ways than one. Today is our 31st wedding anniversary! It is also a hallmark day in our Caribbean adventure. No turquoise waters yet, however every journey begins with the first step.

The first step involves quite a bit of work and effort on our part to take our boat apart and prepare her for shipping on a large truck over land to her new home in Manitowac WI on Lake Michigan where we will begin our sailing journey in June 2020. Prepping the boat took 3 days leading up to September 24th, however the truck showed up the morning of the 24th and took her off to Manitowac.

Removing the dinghy davits

Wrapping up the frame for the bimini

We left our slip for the last time, heading for the transient dock where the lift is

Mark at the top of the mast removing stuff

Here’s a nice view from the top of the mast, the new dodger I sewed looks great from here

Time to loosen and undo all the standing rigging, that’s the stuff that holds the mast up

The crane is here to remove the mast

Here’s a short video of the mast coming off the boat

The morning sunrise on September 24th. What a beautiful way to end our time on Pepin! It’s moving day!

Painkiller coming out of the water

All loaded up on the truck and ready to go

Bye Painkiller! See you in Manitowac!