It was quite a month on dry dock. There was a lot of cold rainy weather but they worked as much as they could every day until it was done. We’ve had many days of below freezing weather which made things miserable for all this outside work. The Coast Guard gave Mark a list of things they wanted done and he and Kyle worked nearly every day on it. The boat looks great.

There are new CG inspectors from Mobile this year. They have a different criteria than the past inspectors. The bi-annual “hull” inspection is supposed to focus on the hull and structure. The annual “topside” focuses more on safety things like drills, fire extinguishers, life jackets, paperwork, etc. These new guys are training so they spent a lot of time inspecting things that are  normally done on topside. That was a surprise.

Mark and Kyle fixed everything they wanted fixed and the inspectors came back on the 9th and checked us off. While they were there, the “lead” inspector stepped on the plexiglass escape hatch on the bow and smashed it. Everyone in the whole boat yard looked up from what they were doing when they heard it break. Mark was less than pleased. One more thing for him to address. Doug Flowers came yesterday and repaired it. The Coast Guard will be getting that bill! Hope we get reimbursed something in this lifetime.

Kyle has gone commercial fishing and Mark is working every day getting ready for topside inspection. It never ends! We make it a point to get all the inspections over with before the season starts so we don’t loose any valuable days. We’ve got a bunch of trips booked for the season already so that is a very good sign! Looking forward to going fishing.