So we needed a Winter haulout. On a summer cruise we developed a vibration, and everyone felt we must have hit something. Based on travel schedules, etc, we didn't get this done until early December. A couple of my friends had work done at the Seaview yard in Ballard, and were very happy with them. www.seaviewboatyard.com The prior times we had been hauled out was at a yard in the lake, on the other side of the locks. Not having to go through the locks is a big bonus. 

This is the view coming into the Seaview yard. Kinda tight. I had a friend with me that is a captain of a 190' fish boat. No prob! 

Using the side view cameras was really helpful coming in (this is after we were already in "the slip."). Also helpful that you can run two separate instances of the Axis camera software. 

Ready to move onto land.

Ouch! I wasn't expecting this. The running gear was completely clean back in May. Some decisions to be made... 

Getting backed into our spot.
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All spiffed up! The props were removed and sent to Kreuger for balancing. After talking with people I decided to go ahead with the PropSpeed coating. It's the best thing going. The Seaview even took the props off the thrusters and coated everything. 

Looking good. How long will everything stay this way?

And here we are ready to go back into the water. Which was another adventure as it was quite windy. But it was good to finally have Mahalo back home.

I'm very happy with the work done at Seaview and the people I worked with there. So like my friends, I'm recommending them as well. 

Not a lot of pleasure boats have the luxury of a built in tool box, workbench and vise. But when a project like this comes along, drilling out zinc plugs, it sure is handy.

One of my dock neighbors asked if I was going to get fender covers. I replied that I didn't think so, yet another maintenance item. He said that over time he noticed gel coat rubbing off his boat onto the fenders, so he went ahead with the covers. 

Well, that was enough for me! Bought the covers on Amazon. Had a little washing project before putting them on. I'm SO GLAD I had an air compressor in the build! And I really like this small line, but it's leaking so that's another thing to look into. 

Gotta say they do look way better. Now to keep them out of the water, right? And I'll wash them three times a year like the directions say, right?

Regular readers probably recall we have an 80 kg Ultra anchor on Mahalo, shown here. It's a beautiful brute, with a price tag to match. 

And you know Mahalo was just in the Seattle boat show. The "big boats" are tied to the dock "stern to." And they have an anchor deployed to keep the bow in place. While the Hampton guys were performing this operation, somehow they notice that the bolt securing the pin which attaches the swivel to the anchor was missing.  

This is a temporary bolt. The one supplied by Ultra is a flush fitting allen bolt. 

Without them noticing, one of these days I'd deploy my anchor and retrieve just the chain. Which is like a nightmare scenario. 

That was worth the trouble of having Mahalo in the boat show for sure. And BTW, when was the last time you checked bolts/etc on your ground tackle?

Oil changes were due on the transmissions and the 16kw generator. The Hampton Service Manage offered to help me do them. This is my first time ever doing oil changes on a boat. Luckily Hampton includes the Reverso oil change system. Hard to imagine doing it without that. 

With the Reverso, you pump out the old oil, and then pump in the new. It's still a bit gnarly and there's no avoiding some mess. Those red valves are how you control which engine you are dealing with. So we have six - the two generators, the two mains, and the two transmissions.

The main engines each of 12 1/2 gallons. Not sure if I'll do that one myself or not. We shall see. 

I'm back at South Lake Union getting more work done on Mahalo. It's an easy walk up to Whole Foods. Rewarded myself for the big accomplishment with some chorizo, shrimp and scallop tacos. More fun than changing oil.