Thelonious II had not been hauled in more than four years, after a $15,000 bottom job and barrier coat. The barrier coat is gray, and as can be seen most of the bottom paint is worn away by time and by monthly scrubbing by a dive service. Still, the condition is better than I expected, with no barnacle calcium or lumpiness. The video was made immediately after haul out, before power washing.
The clips show the through-hulls, rudder and prop shaft. Beside paint the yard will also replace the bellows of the dripless shaft seal, or install new unit, after a conference with me. The bellows is about 10 years old, so this is scheduled maintenance. It will be expensive in labor--the estimate is 6 hours @ $150/hour. I have challenged that already, we'll see what they really claim it took.
The rudder has about 1/4 inch of play (I yanked it sideways as hard as possible). The yard agrees with me that this is normal and acceptable. The washer that separates the rudder from the hull, often mentioned in forum remarks, is in this case a thin piece of plastic that seems to show no wear at all.
I chanced to pass, departing the yard, a new Beneteau for sale. The comparison of hull shapes is provocative. The well for the bow thruster stupefied me. You gotta be kidding. The boat has to push that gaping hole through the water? I could discover no torpedo doors installed to close the gap.
The last scenes are of Marina del Rey's new waterfront retail area, with dozens of new boat slips. The grand opening is stalled, of course, by Covid. Will they fill those slips? My yacht club, CYC, has a dozen or more open slips just now, whereas there had been a waiting list. I asked the dockmaster about that today. "Some folks just wanted to get out of yachting. Some didn't want to keep paying dues and went to other marinas [our club dining and social services are discontinued). One moved his boat to Mexico."
Perhaps there will be a rebound when the vaccine has effect. I had thought boats have proved their value as avenues of escape during the pandemic. But that is apparently balanced by having to pay for what you no longer get--the social aspect.