Recommissioning - Done!

All the "A" list repairs are done now, and we're back in our assigned slip at Halifax Harbor Marina, where the previous owner had berthed Gusto.  We'll be here until we're ready to head for Georgia.

For those who don't know, when a marine surveyor prepares a pre-purchase survey report, he's supposed to (as ours did!) classify any problems he finds according to severity.  The classes are "A", "B", and "C", class "A" problems being those he deems likely to be serious safety issues, and requiring immediate action.

While the boat was still in the repair yard this morning, we went out for breakfast again.  Sometime after we returned to the yard, Dave returned and applied the new transom lettering.  Our boat now bears her new name: Event Horizon.  The old name is still on the bow, but we can take care of that ourselves, and at least she's legal for the Coast Guard documentation.

We left again, for a mid-morning snack, and on our return, Event Horizon was back on the travellift, and Ruben was working hard at reinstalling the rudder.  The shaft and prop had been delivered and installed while we were out!  It took considerably more effort to put the rudder back than it did to remove it in the first place...

Anyway, the rudder did get installed, and while the boat hung in the travellift, Ruben and George touched up the areas of the bottom that couldn't be painted while she sat on the blocks.  Not long afterward, she went back in the water, and after a serious check for leaks, Ruben put her back on the dock from which he'd taken her yesterday morning.  We settled our bill and motored back to Halifax Harbor.

Let me take a moment here to say that we were treated very well by RRC Marine services.  They went out of their way to meet our needs with courtesy and competence.  Their service was prompt, and costs came in under budget.  I had previously obtained two independent estimates of the value of the repairs I needed, and Ruben beat them both.

There was none of the shady dealing one hears so much about at boat yards.  Ruben was just as anxious to get us fixed and out of his yard as we were to have done with it.  There were none of the unnecessary delays that cause yard fees to stack up while the boat sits idle... it never sat idle for more than a few hours. Any time there was something that needed doing, and parts or materials were available, RRC was working on my boat.

Nobody tried to sell us parts or work we didn't need.  In fact, Ruben talked us out of a couple of things that would have cost us big bucks.  I'd have to say that, overall, I'm very happy to have done business with RRC Marine Services.

Docking at Halifax was something of an adventure, and by the time we were secure in our slip, both of us were completely spent.  A light supper and an early bedtime are the order of the day!