Marquesa moves...

Today was moving day! Rick the boat mover, from the Boat Exchange in Columbia, SC, arrived bright and early to begin the process of moving Marquesa out of Pap's pole barn to Charleston.  The pictures tell the story...

Donnie and Norm are 'supervising' Rick...at this point Marquesa was sitting on just three jack stands (rather than the usual seven stands) as Rick was preparing to set up the hydraulics to secure her on the trailer. About this time, our sailing buddy, Vicki, (from the Muncie Sailing Club) showed up with a celebratory bottle of hooch and a 'lucky' silver dime to place under the mast when she gets set up.  Thanks, Vicki, we are sincere in our invitation to come stay on the boat sometime this winter/spring :)

She's out of the barn!  So far, so good, even though the snow had begun to fall.  Next step was getting the mast secured on the trailer.  Thanks to Greg and Nathan for lending a hand with carrying it out.  A 48' mast is none too easy to carry, lol.

She's clearing the lane, to turn down Mechanicsburg Rd.  The snow was really coming down at this point.

Time to hang the "Wide Load" sign on the back, and to flag the mast hanging out the back end....

     One last check, and off she goes.  Did you just hear that collective sigh of relief?!  Hard to believe, all the hours, all the work, all the planning and dreaming has come down to this...we're REALLY going to do it!  I literally have been smiling the rest of the afternoon :))))  It's funny, after eating lunch and coming in from the cold, Cap'n and I hardly knew what to do with ourselves....so, what did he do?  He promptly fell asleep in his easy chair!  (Yep, honey, I really just put that on the internet for the whole world to read.)  We both feel like we've been through the labor pains of birth...the birth of a dream. 
     Just five days left, and there are still dozens of details to take care of; bills to pay, farewell dinners with friends, doctor and dentist appointments, getting the two girls settled in to their respective colleges, cleaning out the fridge and woodstove, etc, etc, etc.  Marquesa will be on the road two days, weather permitting, as she makes her journey to Charleston, SC.  We fly out early on the morning of the 11th to meet up with her. Oh, and Willis (the cat) wanted y'all to know that he is none too pleased about his temporary literbox and his doctor's appointment tomorrow.  Is there such a thing as Bonine for felines?!