October 2nd, 2007:

An amazing thing happened as we wrangled the boat into the travelift's sling to come out of the water for "Spa Week":  we and the four boatyard guys operating the lift all ended up singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart".  And it was not anyone from SARABANDE that initiated it!  Motoring down to the yard end of the marina, we approached the lift bow first, but the worker guys felt that stern-to would be better.  

Worker A, in heavily accented English, breaking into song:  "This won't work.  I think you're going to have to....turn arooouuunnd..." 

Alicia (incredulous at first, but then also singing):  "Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming 'round....."

Worker B, also heavily accented:  "Turn aroooouuunndd, briiiight eyeeess....."

Brian (throwing the boat into reverse, and brilliantly singing in the style of the film "Old School"): "And I need you now tonight!  I @#(*@&in' need you now more than ever!"

We all continued in this way, and a feeling of goodwill spread throughout our group.  The yard workers expertly lifted and guided SARABANDE out of the water and propped her up on land, and they've been really friendly to us throughout our entire experience.  The ability of '80s power ballads to break down barriers and unite people can never be overestimated.
Sarabande comes out of the water as Alicia and Louie watch.  Sheba remains inside, oblivious.

SARABANDE's been out of the water now for 10 days, during which time progress has ambled along rather than galloped.  We will probably remain out until Saturday tying up the loose ends on our projects.

Brian successfully replaced ALL the smelly old sanitation hoses in the head, which were full of the filthy "product" they were designed to manage.  It was a disgusting job, "product" dripped everywhere, and Alicia is eternally grateful to him for allowing her to duck out of assisting. 

Brian's not down with OPP.

Anyhow, the seacock (a regrettable word for a valve that controls the flow of liquid coming in and out of the boat) in the head had seized, which would have put us in a dire situation should it have failed.  Brian replaced it, and now we can sleep a little easier knowing it's not a faulty, corroded dinosaur keeping the ocean out of our boat.  And the head smells so much better!

Would you trust this thing?


Outside, Alicia scrubbed the hull, and sanded and painted over SARABANDE's battle scars from the piling incident of her City Island days.  The painted patches need to be blended in to the original paint (no small feat with Awlgrip), so that's slated for help this evening. Alicia also repainted SARABANDE's name on her bows and stern in blue and gold, an improvement over the "naked Barbie peach" the letters appeared in previously (see below).

The friendly, singing yard workers sanded the bottom and put a new coat of anti-fouling on.

The Tannenlift System has exceeded our expectations--Louie loved the attention and the praise we heaped on him as he traveled up and down, so after the first few trips his tail now wags the whole time.  It also came in really handy for bringing up groceries and laundry!  A+, Tannenlift!

Also, Alicia recieved a new computer from Brian for her birthday with some really cool website software on it-- this website will undergo a complete facelift in the coming weeks!  More video, a better layout and a 200% more awesome look comin' up!

Loving and happy birthday wishes to Mr. Tom Collins, Alicia's dad!

SARABANDE seems pleased.