We had to HAUL OUT our yacht!!😲

Finally, 25 months after splashing Saoirse, we had to haul out. We had left it longer than we should have but we wanted to haul out when we got closer to actually doing our crossing. That day is finally in sight- we have set December / January as a departure date and the haul out has been our first big step towards that plan, suddenly making it very real. We knew the bottom had areas that were REALLY bad - with a huge amount of mussel, red bait, sponges, barnacles and live stock living on four specific areas, bow and stern of each hull. Before we initially launched Saoirse, we had given the hulls 4 good coats of anti-foul but at that stage we were still sitting in cradles. The day we lifted her to be transported back to the ocean was raining. We gave the cradle areas a good coat of anti-foul as she was lifted onto the truck by the crane (link to that scary episode below) and again at her launch site right before splashing - and it really showed. These were the areas that had all the growth. With the anti-foul being self polishing, and the very small amount of sailing that we've done because we've constantly been working, we had an entire eco-system growing in these areas. We also had a large adjustment to make regarding the waterline. Our initial waterline had been grossly misjudged and after launching and adding the weight of the mast, sails and filling all tanks, our anti-foul waterline plunged about 100mm below the water. It was somewhat of a disaster as from then on, we had severe growth around each hull that was hard to control in the rich waters of the West coast. So when hauled, it was a huge job to clean up the scum line. We ultimately raised the waterline by 200mm and it's made a huge difference. We also picked up a potential problem with one of our propellers- bush problem again - see below for a link to a previous episode that covered a similar issue with the other prop - so we are in the process of having that repaired and are testing out a second hand prop in the meantime - figuring out a set of spares to take with us. It's surprising how often we hear of yachts loosing propellers so we need to have at least one spare. The haul out was hair raising!! Watching your home being pulled out and released back into the water on a travel lift is a scary experience. To see around 10 tons of yacht being supported on a moving object that just looks too small to support it takes a lot of faith, but it all went very smoothly and we are so chuffed to be back in the water and on our initial test sail we could feel and see the difference in Saoirse. There is no holding her back now and we are all excited to start planning our crossing and future adventures. A huge thank you to Chris Boocke, the management and members of Saldanha Bay Yacht Club who all helped to make this a near perfect haul out. The scary episode where Saoirse is lift by a crane and transported to her splash site. https://youtu.be/XMGJMpRgbvE We've had problems with our other propeller in the past too https://youtu.be/XHTbUOC3OXY If you enjoy the video, please subscribe, like and hit the notification bell so that you are notified each time we upload a new video. Doing that is also a free way for you to support our channel and help us grow.