That’s a Wrap!

In our opinion, the Pacific Northwest is one of the world’s most beautiful cruising grounds, but the cruising season can be rather short – some say it’s only two months: July and August. Of course, when cruising on a trawler with a heater, this window can be much longer. This year our season was cut down to just two months though, not counting a couple of shakedown cruises. Since we purchased Limerick at the beginning of the year, we had some maintenance and modifications to make and didn’t get away from the dock until late May. By the end of July, we had to call it quits because we were offered a great opportunity to work on a NOAA project in support of nautical chart updates near the Mississippi River Delta in Louisiana.

After a lot of debate, we decided not to go back to the boat after our work concluded in October, but rather to do some land traveling in the southern latitudes during the cold and wet Washington winter months. So we needed to find a place to store the boat. We considered leaving her in the water in a covered slip but that can be very costly and leaves too many things to worry about. We wanted a worry-free option. So we decided to put her on the hard and get her shrink-wrapped.

After making a lot of phone calls and talking to other boaters over the summer, we decided on Anacortes, Washington. Anacortes is a historic seafaring town right next to the gorgeous San Juan Islands. In town are boating supply stores, boatyards, repair shops, marinas, boats in and out of the water everywhere, some great restaurants and grocery stores – everything we need. So we’ll be able to get right to work when we arrive back on the boat in the spring. (2021 update: After all these years in Anacortes we still think it was a great decision and the little town feels like home) Whenever we haul out we worry about the slings on the travel lift damaging the gunwale, rail, or transducer. When we pulled up expecting to see a travel lift we saw what looked like a boat trailer waiting for us. What appeared to be a boat trailer was actually a state of the art Sea-Lift. We stayed on board while being pulled out of the water and then took a ride down a side street of Anacortes to Limerick‘s new home. It was like riding on an air cushion. Zero damage to the boat and much safer and faster than a traditional travel lift. We were able to stay on board while we prepared ourselves and the boat for an extended time away. We lowered the mast, removed the canvas enclosure on the flying bridge, and started stringing lines to support the shrink-wrap. Most storage yards around Anacortes even have amazing views of the water and Mount Baker in the distance. We can even park the car right next to the boat. No need to haul dock carts full of gear.

Why we chose to haul-out and shrink-wrap

• About 1/4 of the cost of a covered slip
• No worrying about thru-hull failures and sinking
• The boat stays dry inside and out
• No green slime on deck due to rain
• No UV damage (we do get a few sunny days in winter)
• No environmental damage to our copious amounts of wood
• Not using up bottom paint and anodes
• Rain can’t leak into windows
• Canvas is protected
• The boat is safe in a gated and secure yard
• The boat is ready to be worked on when we return

Why we chose Anacortes

• Excellent reputation in the boating community
• Located right next to one of the world’s best cruising grounds
• Safe and clean storage yards and buildings
• Able to stay aboard in most yards while prepping the boat
• We can work on the boat ourselves or get help with anything if needed
• Fair prices for storage and work performed (see our cruising expenses)
• Drive on boat-lift rather than travel lift with slings

After we left for our nearly 3,000-mile road trip to Louisiana, the guys at our yard brought Limerick into their shop to dry out for a night and then wrapped her up, dinghy and all. We cannot wait to unwrap our little present this spring and head north! Our first year getting shrink-wrapped the yard used blue shrink-wrap. In subsequent years we have always asked for white since it is much better for working on the boat while still wrapped. The blue is very dark and distorts colors.