Epilogue
Cats Paw arrived in Vancouver, BC, on 12 September 2004 on board Dockwise Transport's semi-submersible transporter Super Servant 3. There were about 50 owners and 28 boats on board, all to be unloaded in Vancouver. They took us out in a launch to SS3, where it took about 4 hours to do the paperwork and to flood SS3's decks. Getting off the boat was as simple as motoring off!
Dockwise did a great job. Cats Paw was in excellent shape. A little wear and tear on her mainsail cover and some soot on the deck was all she had to show for her 5 weeks on board. If you need to transport a boat long distance, I would highly recommend Dockwise.
It was getting dark when I finally motored away (I was one of the last boats to leave), but I only had about 7 miles to go to Coal Harbour, where I had made reservations. I pulled in just after dark. I spent the next week in Vancouver, enjoying the city. Despite having lived in the Northwest for most of 30 years, I had only spent one day there previously!
The next week I had a very enjoyable sail singlehanding Cats Paw across the Georgia Straits, through Porlier Pass, to Ganges. The following day I went on to Sidney, BC. She'll spend the winter in Sidney having numerous small things fixed such as the broken windscreen column, torn second reef grommet, etc.