Bye Bye Boat

The boat is out of our yard and back in Westport. Finally. Poor Kevin has had many setbacks (he should be out there fishing right now - the first salmon opener started on the 1st), but at least the boat is now in the water. He has a few more days of work left on the boat and then will hopefully catch the second opener which starts on the 8th.

On the trailer and ready to move!

Early this morning, Kevin, my dad, and my dad's friends Vince and Dave drove the boat out to Westport after working for the last week and half from morning til dark (and many nights after dark!) modifying and getting the boat onto the trailer that Kevin bought a couple months ago at an auction. It was a monumental task that they are all glad to be done with!

Moved to the front of our house, ready to pull out in the morning.

Kevin could not have done it without the help of my dad and his friends - we are so thankful! They might all be grandpas and not as spry as they once were, but their expertise, insight and flat-out hard work (especially by Vince, the oldest of the three, at age 75!) was invaluable to Kevin. Great job, crew, and thank you so much!

My mom and I provided meals throughout the week to the men.

There was a lot of head-scratching, working in the rain and even working into the night....

Abby wasn't able to watch the boat leave, as the departure time was 5am (to avoid traffic on the way out), but she did get to see Kevin return with the empty trailer this afternoon. She was excited to get to ride in the big truck as Kevin backed the trailer in. Sorry no pictures of that - Kevin forgot the camera in Westport (I hope baby boy doesn't come tonight! =)! For lack of a better explanation, I've told her that Daddy took the boat down to the beach since I know she remembers the beach but not the boat basin, as we haven't visited the latter since last summer. Abby looked hard at the empty trailer and you could just about see the wheels turning in her head. She kept saying, "Bye bye boat," "Boat all gone," and "Boat beach" this afternoon. I'm not quite sure what she is going to talk about anymore - "Dadda's workin'" and "Dadda's boat" have been her most frequent phrases lately and, in fact, were the first words out of her mouth this morning when she woke up. Hopefully, she'll understand the concept of Kevin working on the boat but far away in Westport (or on the ocean) instead of in the backyard. It's going to be a tough summer for Daddy's little girl. =(