It's been about 6 weeks (45 days) since Hurrican Ian.

We've been righted.

The batteries are plugged in and the pumps have run, so there's minimal water in the bilge. The dehumidifier is standing over the galley sink, so the interior is unlikely to be mildew hell.

We've been inspected by friends, a local mechanic, and a representative of our insurance company.

Status Report

(Captain Kirk or Captain Picard or Captain Janeway or Captain Dunham would shout this and someone would have an answer right then and there. Weird.)

We've some obvious fibreglass damage. The kind of thing where you can measure the area and write down sensible, detailed estimates for patch, fill, fairing, gelcoat, and paint. This is pleasant.

There are units in the estimate (8.4, 21.0, 21.0) that might be square feet. Or might be labor hours. What's important is that they build up to dollars that we can claim for the repairs. Big Sigh of Relief.

We've got an obvious "ripped the dodger right the hell off the deck" damage, also. While obvious, the estimate is a little more complicated. What's involved in fixing it? Can the dodger be salvaged? And what about the board ripped off the starboard winch base?

Or.

Does an entirely new structure need to be built?

Today, we heard back from some canvas repair folks in Florida. (They're based up in Sarasota, but have been driving down the the damaged areas to fix boats and make some money. We're happy they're cashing in.)

They're pretty sure the dodger is usable. The steel wasn't bent. The plastic cracked in some places, but it's HDPE, essentially Starboard™ branded plastic. They're perfectly comfortable working with this, and have ways to rebuild the broken bits.

(I'd already bolted extra plastic over some stress fractures. More of this would be fine.)

They want to put a more robust track for holding up the windows. We're delighted to see them looking at the failure modes and proposing improvements.

To Do

We have to look closely at the mast-head wind instrument situation. We expected the anemometor and direction sensor were ripped clean off. Maybe they survived. It seems unlikely.

It's a B&G replacement part, so I'm comfortable doing that myself. One trip up the mast to assess, and another trip up to replace. I'm already planning to go up to replace the mast-head light.

We still have questions about the engine's condition. It may have been exposed to water. We don't really know. We're hoping that we can get the mechanic who plugged her in and cleared the pump outputs to revisit her and pull the dipstick to look for water in the oil.

Hurricane season until November 30th. After that, we're hoping to get back to Red Ranger and tackle the teak benches in the cockpit during the Florida winter.