Helping out

Aboard and Island Packet 380!

In late October 2011 I flew to Baltimore to help a friend move his 380 to Miami.  I had helped this friend move the same boat on two different occasions, once from Rock Hall, Md to Boston and then several years later from Boston to Baltimore.

A friend from Burnt Store Marina, Alan, who is the owner of an Island Packet 420 was going along to help out.  With the owner and the owners non-sailing friend aboard we would have 4 people which should have been fine for the trip.

Alan and I arrived at BWI at about the same time and the owner was there to pick us up. We had lunch and then went to the boat to start getting ready for the trip.

The boat was a dump – quite literally it looked like nothing had been touched in several years.  There was road slime and crud on the deck and topsides, the cockpit line lockers were molded and stuck closed, running rigging was badly worn and badly molded.  The interior of the boat was a cluttered mess and extremely dirty and both lazarettes were chock full of “stuff”!

We made a list of items that we needed from West Marine and off we went, we purchased new running rigging, light bulbs, materials for an anchor snubber, etc.

The next morning Alan and I (not the owner) started cleaning the galley, fridge, stove, head, and salon.  We disposed of expired food and beverages, condiments, and tried to get a handle on the clutter inside the boat.  We then washed the topsides, opened the line lockers (mud flats) and cleaned them out, replaced running rigging and I went up the mast to check the masthead and anchor light.

The entire story is provided below in .pdf format.

Helping Out