3/16/10
This afternoon we took off for Seattle, RD has a class on the 19th and 20th. We only made it as far as Coeur d’Alene however because we passed Wolf Lodge Steakhouse and decided this was as good a night as any to pop in and have an amazing steak (they have the best steaks in Montana…possibly on the planet…cooked over a combination of Cherry and Tamarack wood…yummy).
3/17/10
After a few more hours of studying in the morning we drove on to Leavenworth to spend the night with my parents and have corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s day. Two of their classmates from high school, Marion and Blackie, were also there. Good food and good conversation.
3/18/10
In my memories I always think of Seattle as being a long ways from Leavenworth or Wenatchee, I was amazed at how short a trip it was, and upon arriving, how much Seattle has grown up since I lived here 30 years ago. As soon as we checked into our hotel and ditched the car we took off on foot and headed for Pike Place Market. We were both starving and both dying for some really good fish and chips. After lunch RD went back to the hotel to study and I wandered through Pike Place Market (got some Market Place Orange Spice Tea…a favorite) and then headed for Nordstrom’s (also a favorite). I really don’t “need” anything but it’s still fun to look. I did end up buying new bra’s and RD was shocked that they were $70 each! (At my age you have to put out the big bucks to get the needed leverage…)
Dinner was at a sushi bar in the hotel and then RD went to bed early. His course is for ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support) which will certify him to work in an Emergency room so he has been doing a lot of studying. The course is at Harborview over the next two days so I will be on my own. I have scheduled a walking tour of downtown Seattle to reacquaint myself with the city and I’m guessing I’ll see things that I will want to investigate further the next day. It was crystal blue skies and in the low 60’s today…let’s hope that continues!
3/19/10
RD brought me a Starbucks coffee before heading off for his class. After talking to our boat broker and finding out how much time he thought we needed in Annapolis I spent the morning finding us a flight from Baltimore to Jacksonville. I finally had to stop due to hunger and at about 10:30 I hit the streets. First I found a cute little Thai restaurant and then I just started walking, some things were familiar but in a hazy kind of way…after all it has been 30 years since I lived here and Seattle has changed a lot! At 2:00 I joined the guide for my walking tour. There were only 3 other people, a couple from Australia (currently living in Chicago) and a woman who just moved to Seattle from New Jersey 2 weeks ago, so it was easy to stay close to the guide and hear all the little tidbits. We of course started at Pike Place market…did you know it was started in 1907 by 7 farmers who wanted to cut out the middleman? They had 10,000 customers their first weekend! We walked through the retail district, several downtown parks, went to the station for the new light rail that runs between downtown and the airport, through the convention center, down to Pioneer Square, and then along the waterfront to the new sculpture park down by the Old Spaghetti Factory. One interesting factoid I learned was that every building that is constructed must spend 1% of their building cost on public art…there are sculptures everywhere as well as public spaces within buildings just full of art of all kinds…how wonderful is that? By 5:00 I had been on my feet for over 6 ½ hours and walking for most of that. My feet are killing me!
Once RD got back from class we walked about a block and a half to a restaurant because that is all my poor feet would tolerate. I am going to have to find a more sedentary way of passing the time tomorrow!
RD serendipitously got in touch with an old med school classmate (she found Justin on facebook and sent him her phone # to give to RD) and it turns out she lives here in Seattle! We are going to have dinner with her and her husband tomorrow night.
3/20/10
After RD left for his class (no coffee this morning because he was late getting up and his class was starting earlier than yesterday), I spent the morning in the room relaxing. Susan (RD’s old classmate) called and suggested we have dinner at their house. So much easier to sit, relax, and have time to talk.
At noon I checked out but left the car in the hotel parking lot. I spent most of the next 5 hours in Nordstroms (got a new face “potion”), Barnes & Noble (got a “black belt” Sudoku book for the plane), and in a cute little boutique (got two cute sun dresses).
At 5:00 RD called to tell me he had “smoked” the test and was ready for me to pick him up. I grabbed the car and drove toward the hospital, he started walking toward the hotel, we met somewhere in the middle and handed off the driving to him since we were going up to the University district and he knows his way around up there better than I do.
We had a very enjoyable evening with Susan and her husband Al (he makes a great martini) then headed for the airport. RD had arranged offsite parking which was cheaper than parking at the airport and they have a shuttle service to and fro. We ended up riding to the airport with a woman and her daughter from Bozeman!
Once we checked in and went through security we both took meds to help us sleep and by 11:00 PM we were wheels up and on our way to Baltimore.
3/21/10
Hit Philly this morning real early, grabbed an apple and a coffee, and jumped on our connecting flight to Baltimore. Not much sleep (about 3 hours) and we have a full day ahead of us.
Our flight landed at 8:40 and by 10:30 we had collected our luggage, rented a car and drove to Annapolis to meet our broker. Got a little lost in Annapolis (it has also grown up over the past 10-12 years) but finally found him. We had an 11:00 appointment to see the first boat, a 44 foot Island Packet that someone was actually living on. It was fabulous! Despite being 17 years old it showed like it was brand new! From there we headed out of Annapolis to Rock Hall where we saw 3 more, an Island packet 380 (didn’t particularly like the layout), an Island packet 40 (better than the 380 but not as nice as the 44) and a Bristol 44 (not to my liking). After that we headed to a different boatyard where we were to see a Saber 42.5. An absolutely beautiful boat. Too bad the one we climbed aboard and inspected wasn’t the one we were there to see! After about 5 minutes of being on board we realized the boat had a different name than the one we were supposed to be seeing! Oops! Two Saber 42.5’s in the same boat yard…go figure. We finally found the one we were supposed to be on (it was nice but not quite as nice as the one we weren’t supposed to be on) but it is definitely a close 2nd to the Island Packet 44.
By this time it was 5:00 in the afternoon, we had been going all day, and I actually nodded off in the backseat on the way back to Annapolis. Dave dropped us off and we checked into our hotel before heading out for some Mexican food. Turns out it was the same restaurant RD went to last time he had to take a certification test…how weird is that? They had my favorite tequila (Gran Centenario Anejo) so I was a happy girl.
Once we got back to the hotel we just crashed.
3/22/10
After lot’s of talking last night, and Dave doing lot’s of thinking, we all agreed that the IP 44 was our first choice. There are two more boats to see today but one is an IP 380 (and as I noted earlier, not my favorite layout) and the other is a 4+ hour drive away.
We went to see the IP 380 first which happened to be in a marina that Dave recommended for us (nice, but far enough from Annapolis to not be outrageously priced, yet still a great jumping off point for sailing the bay) if we buy a boat here in the Annapolis area. This IP 380 was nicer than the first but still not the top of the list. On the way back to Annapolis Dave talked to someone who had already seen the 44 Caliber which is 4+ hours away and was told not to waste time driving there (not in good shape). So, Dave set up another appointment for us to get back aboard the IP 44 so we could really go over it with a fine toothed comb.
We met one of the owners, much younger than we expected, and it turns out they own a boat detailing business so it is no wonder the boat looks so fabulous! After a thorough “look-see” we went out to lunch and talked about what our next step was…all three of us Dave (our broker), RD and I had all decided this was our boat. We went to see a finance person next. We had originally planned to pay cash for a boat but Dave talked us out of it, turns out you can write it off on your taxes because it is considered a “home” when they are this size.
Dave drove us back to the hotel then went to write up a contract. After doing a little more research (like finding out what they paid for it 2 ½ years ago, and finding out what the last two IP 44’s of this “age” sold for, he suggested we offer them a really low ball offer ($50,000 less than the asking price!) I was scared we would offend them but decided he was the expert and to let him call the shots when it came to this end of things. We told him what our max was and said ”handle it”.
After signing all the paperwork and handing him a check for 10% we went out to dinner and to celebrate with a shot of Gran Centenario Anejo.
To bed early as our flight is at 6:30AM to Jacksonville tomorrow. We are going to see what’s there as planned just in case this deal doesn’t go through because neither of us feel like any of the other boats in Annapolis are a perfect “2nd choice”.
3/23/10
We didn’t hit Jacksonville until 1:15 so after getting a rental car and driving to the first Marina it was already 3:30. We were going to see a boat that looked really good in the listing, had a great price but was not selling. I think we were more curious than really expecting it to be “it”.
OMG! It was so bad I “guestimate” it would take about $70,000 to clean it up and get it ready for sailing…they wanted $159,900…they are obviously delusional! If nothing else it was enlightening to see just how bad a nice boat can get if it is neglected.
We left there and drove to Tampa where we will see a broker tomorrow who has a few IP 380’s to show us.
3/24/10
After a few missed turns we finally made it to the Marina. I didn’t particularly like the broker (Dave is so good he has me totally spoiled!), nor did I think he “got us”. We ended up seeing several stripped down IP’s, a New Catalina (which looks a lot like a Miami condo if you ask me), and I refused to even look at the Hunter’s (kind of like a Yugo of the sailing world if you ask me). We did see one IP380 that RD liked so it is a possibility if the deal up North falls through.
I got a call from Dave late in the afternoon that they had made a counter offer…$25,000 less than the asking price and $10,000 less than our “max”. I answered with a resounding YES! We were so excited we were vibrating!
Here she is:
http://gallery.me.com/blondie222#100010
We immediately got serious about picking a name. It is currently named “Sophyra” which oddly enough has a “Montana connection”. The name comes from a book written by a 16 year old from Montana. Eragon is the name of the book and there has even been a movie made out of it. Sophyra is the name of a dragon in the book. We came up with a short list then decided we wanted something really clever so we have started a boat naming contest. It is so fun to see what people come up with. We want the name to reflect us but as the names come in it is obvious that the names not only reflect us (and what people think of us) but reflect them and their personalities as well. I’ve decided naming a boat is even harder than naming a kid!
3/25/10
Clancy got in at about 1AM and the alarm went off at about 3:15…have I ever said that I hate early morning flights!?! The good news however is that we were in Tortola by noon. We took a taxi to our hotel and hit the pool for lunch and a few cocktails as our room wasn’t ready yet.
Everything being on “island time” we didn’t get our room until 6:00. By that time I was fried in more ways than one!
3/26/10
At noon we caught a taxi and went to the Marina. Since our boat will not be ready till 6 we stored our luggage in their luggage closet and ended to a restaurant on the dock for lunch. Turned out to be slow, slow, slow, and $ but the food was good
I then tried to get scuba gear at the dock but they were so rude I refused to do business with them. I called another shop who will deliver gear to the boat tonight.
RD and Clancy went for a walk while I had another drink, answered a few e-mails and studied the dive map trying to find a good spot to take Clancy for the first time (he hasn’t been in 7 years so I’ll need to do a little scuba “tune-up”). Found a spot with no current, a sandy bottom and not too deep…perfect.
When we finally got our boat and got our gear aboard we went to buy groceries OMG what should have cost $150 was $350! “Tony” delivered our dive gear…we all think he was stoned…and gave us a mini “briefing” on the local diving, Clancy’s gear, and filling tanks.
We tried to eat dinner but the waiters wouldn’t serve us! We have not been impressed with the Sunsail facilities.
3/27/10
Why RD chose the v-berth for us and gave Clancy the big bed in the back I will never know…it was a very uncomfortable night. Neither of us slept at all and not for a good reason.
At about 8:20 a guy came around to give a boat briefing. He had two Oceanis 343’s to brief so RD and Clancy went with him to the other boat while I paid the dinghy deposit and got our documentation corrected to reflect there are three of us on board not two. They had to eventually come back to our boat because it turns out the other one was American built while ours is French built (definitely not as nice and definitely not the same).
Bare boat briefing was at 9:30 and I’m really glad I went. (Bare boat means we are chartering without a captain on board, just us). RD started writing notes but they were undecipherable and he couldn’t really hear or understand the guy. Juicy little tidbits like $1200 fine for bringing your dinghy ashore on national park land and $25,000 fines for anchoring on a reef would not have made it into the notes.
Leaving the dock was an experience. Once RD decides it’s time to go he is full tilt, never mind that we are not ready to pull away from the dock. We had a bit of a SNAFU (in the true sense of the word for those of you who know what it means) actually it was a SNAFU of epic proportions and I think they are still talking about us back at the Marina…suffice it to say that the best thing about our exit from the slip was that we did not sink the boat.
We sailed across the bay to Bight Bay on Norman Island where we picked up a mooring ball (the first one we could find), had a few cocktails, then went to “Willie T’s”. An old sail boat that has been turned into a restaurant/bar. Apparently if you are female and show up naked they give you a free t-shirt (I do not have a new t-shirt) I did however fall off my barstool and crush Clancy’s foot. Luckily he was as drunk as me so he hardly felt it. We had to do a shot from the water ski (old wooden water ski with 4 shot glasses embedded in it) just to say we did it.
RD went to bed, Clancy and I sat on deck and talked for an hour before I went to bed and he headed back to the bar…I have no idea when he got in.
3/28/10
At 7:00 RD was unhooking us from the mooring and heading for the dive site we had decided on. I was still in bed with a cup of coffee in my hand when he took off so wasn’t up top when he and Clancy got us on a mooring ball.
We hauled out the dive gear and I went over everything with Clancy. He remembered everything amazingly well without coaching…he is one smart dude. RD didn’t feel like diving so it was just the two of us. It turned out to be perfect, no current, sandy bottom, and a few interesting things to see. I even impressed myself by navigating a big circle and coming up “up-current” from the boat so we only had about 20 feet to swim with the current assisting us instead of wearing us out!
While we were underwater RD cooked breakfast and we ate it at the mooring before taking off for our day of sailing. We decided to head all the way up the bay towards Virgin Gorda which meant we sailed all day. We had found two small bays which we were allowed to anchor in (no mooring balls) because we wanted a quiet evening on the boat.
The first one was Little Dix Bay, narrow access and limited room to maneuver once inside. I vetoed that one at the last minute (mostly because there was a resort on the beach with lots of people…definitely not quiet). We then motored up to Savanah Bay (RD had wanted to sail into the anchorage but I vetoed that as well..unknown anchor, unknown bottom…bad combination). I hate it when I am right…I think we had to make 4 or 5 attempts at it and then RD ended up going in the water with snorkel gear and setting a second anchor to be sure (OMG we do not anchor well as a team…definitely needs some work but the wireless headphones really help…at least the neighboring boats don’t hear our comments back and forth).
After a well deserved cocktail and watching the sunset RD got the grill going for the pork chops and I made a salad and mashed potatoes. Just like hunting camp, everything tastes better when you are sitting outside.
3/29/10
We spent a very leisurely morning before heading out to sail. Most of the day was spent North of Virgin Gorda just sailing then we decided to head for Trellis Bay on Beef Island because there is a “Full Moon Party” there tonight (bonfires on the beach, happens once a month…gotta be there). We hit the bay at about 1:30 and there was not a mooring to be found (there are at least 100 there) so we ended up at Marina Cay on the island across the way. We had decided to dinghy across for the party…not a brilliant idea as the wind picked up and the waves kicked in after dark. I am sure small craft warnings were in effect and we were in the middle of a straight between two islands in the dark with 5 foot waves crashing into our little dinghy. I had a water proof bag that I had filled with air in the hopes of using it for a makeshift flotation device if need be but we finally made it across.
3/30/10
Yesterday I set up a rendezvous with the dive shop we had rented our tanks from to get refills and more weight as we really only had enough weight for two of us and one of our tanks had a bad valve. I want to dive a wreck which all three of us will want to do and we will want to do two dives to cover the whole thing so we need all six tanks to be full. RD took the dinghy back across the straight to Trellis Bay and ended up not only getting tanks and weights but a few groceries as well (water, beer, diet coke, 2 bags of ice, 4 rolls, 2 cans tuna, relish, cookies and 8 sausage patties…$89.00...OMG).
After he got back we motored out for about an hour to recharge the batteries then put the sails up and headed for “The Bitter End” (north end of Virgin Gorda). There is a regatta today with a big race from Nanny Cay (on Tortola) to The Bitter End. We hit the entrance to the bay just as the first race boat was tacking to go in. We dropped the sails and watched the front runners go in then made a break for it and headed into the bay being very careful to stay out of the racers way. We found a mooring off Prickly Pear Island and sat back and watched as the rest of the race finished.
After a sandwich and a cocktail or two we decided to head into “town”. We got in at 6:00 but the first seating we could get at The Bitter End Yacht Club was at 9:00 so we ended up a little further down the bay at a rowdy little bar/restaurant that didn’t require “long pants” or a reservation.
Much to Clancy’s disgust we were back at the boat by 8:00.
3/31/10
The plan was to get up early, eat breakfast, clean up and sail down the bay to get a mooring close to the wreck of the Rhone so we could dive it tomorrow. Best laid plans…as Clancy was finishing up the dishes we ran out of water in the first tank and couldn’t get the other two tanks to work so of course we obviously thought they had forgot to fill them. We headed into the first marina but they had a line of about 13 boats waiting to get either water or fuel. So, we headed for the second marina which only had a small line. Turns out 2 of the 3 tanks were full, we obviously just couldn’t figure out how to switch them!
After we got water, ice, batteries and a bag of potato chips (the essentials). We put the sails up and I sailed us out of the bay. I actually sailed us all the way from the Bitter End to Peter Island! We were running with the wind (hot and relatively slow due to the wind only being about 8-10 knots compared to 18-20 knots yesterday) the whole way so when it hit 3:00 we dropped the sails and motored the rest of the way to Great Bay, a very deep anchorage with minimal mooring balls.
We had a bit of a problem getting our anchor set (first and foremost I ran over the painter (the line to the dinghy) while backing up…we both forgot to shorten the line…cut the line with the propeller and it started to float away. Luckily Clancy was with us because he emptied his pockets and dove in after it while RD and I were busy trying to set the anchor. It took us several attempts (did I say previously that we need practice?) but we finally got it. Since it was so deep I set up RD’s scuba gear so he could go down and check it. He decided to set a second anchor just to be sure. After that he re-braided the dinghy rope together (good thing he’s a cowboy!)
When all the work was done I was finally able to jump in and cool off. The boys were doing back flips off the back of the boat (until RD did a faceplant and nearly knocked himself out) I was smart enough to just tread water and let the water cool me off.
After a cocktail to watch the sunset we cooked steak and fried potatoes. By 7:30 it is pitch dark, I can see how spending a lot of time on a boat would really change my sleep pattern.
The plan for tomorrow is to take off early and find a diving mooring on the wreck and do two dives to try and cover the whole wreck…we shall see!
4/1/10
RD, bless his little “early morning” soul, we were up and off our mooring by 7:45AM and at the dive site by 8:45…not another boat in site. The wreck of the Rhone is actually a two dive site, a deep portion and a shallow portion. We geared up and got in the water. Being the first ones there we were able to pick the perfect mooring so we descended on our mooring line and the wreck was just off to our right in about 75’ of water. We saw the granddaddy of all lobsters (I’m not kidding, he would of easily fed a family of four) and one of the resident Barracudas (either Fred or Fang) and despite a bit of a current it was a great dive.
Upon coming up RD and Clancy changed tanks while I pulled together a “breakfast” (rations are getting low)…a grapefruit, 3 yogurts, cheddar cheese and some Ritz crackers…did I say we were livin’ large?
After a minimal surface interval we were back in the water, RD had some trouble with his gear so opted out. Clancy and I had a wonderful dive seeing a sleeping turtle, 3 more huge lobsters (each one larger than the previous), and a great variety of reef fish.
Once back on the boat RD was raring to go (bored silly after sitting on the boat alone for 45 minutes) but the wind was not his friend today. We tried but standing still waiting for a puff of breeze just wasn’t cutting it. We finally decided to motor to Sopper’s Bay on the south end of Tortola but when we got there there wasn’t a mooring or good anchorage spot to be found so we decided to go on to Jost Van Dyke (Great Harbor to be precise), where we were able to anchor.
Great Harbor is famous for a bar called “Foxy’s” (Foxy opened it 40 years ago and he is still there!) so of course we had to go (after I shaved my legs and washed my hair on the swim plate of the boat). We got the garbage dumped, picked up some groceries, had drinks and dinner and then headed back to the boat at about 8:30.
4/2/10
We awoke this AM to an overcast sky and eventually rain. Clancy said something about it making him want to “hunker down” and that was all it took for RD and I to get lazy as well. We took our time and had a “proper” breakfast (eggs, sausage and hashbrowns) and read books until the rain stopped.
RD and I took the tanks into shore to get them refilled and while I was waiting RD found a bar that was serving (Good Friday…apparently they aren’t supposed to sell booze during the daytime?), when he came back he had already had two beers. I sent him to get the dinghy and pull it up to the beach so we could load the tanks and then we went back and I had a gin & tonic. So much for diving today…
We found a little grocery store open and got a case of beer, two six packs of diet coke, more sunscreen and ice then headed back to the boat.
Once we unloaded everything Clancy was whining because he was hungry and all the beer was warm so we jumped in the dinghy and ran back into “Corsair’s” for a few more drinks and some fish and chips. Clancy had wanted some drink called a “Bananawhacker” but that bar was closed. Before heading back to the boat I spoke with one of the instructors/dive guides from the shop and got a suggestion for what sounds like a great dive site. We’ll go there first thing tomorrow morning then sail the rest of the day.
The rest of the afternoon was spent reading and peeling my back…did I mention the killer sunburn?
Around 6:00 the natives (RD and Clancy) got restless and started wrestling and smacking each other with flip-flops. Since I had no desire to eat again and didn’t need any more alcohol I pretended I was falling asleep until they finally left. Ahh, silence is golden, the whole boat to myself. I took a shower, watched the stars and read with the faint sound of reggae music in the wind. Perfect.
4/3/10
RD was up early and had coffee made…there are definitely some benefits to him being an early bird. We motored north to the dive site they suggested yesterday. There was a mooring ball at the site but it was awful close to the rocks and we were dealing with 10 ft. sea’s so we decided to anchor on the other (protected) side of the little island we were diving.
RD took Clancy and I over to the mooring ball, I had a moment when I thought “10 foot sea’s, maybe not a great idea” but I was pretty sure it would be fine once we got under water. I got in first to check the current, which really wasn’t bad, just a lot of surge, so I explained to Clancy how to use the surge instead of fight it. As I was waiting for Clancy to get in I saw a snorkel on the bottom right under me so I went down and got it (Clancy was using mine and in 10 ft. sea’s a snorkel is a must when you hit the surface at the end of your dive), and had RD attach it to my mask. We agreed on a rendezvous time and a “plan B” if we missed the mooring ball and got pushed by the current and off we went. I am sure the site would be great if the visibility was good but it wasn’t so it was only ho-hum, but again, Clancy did great with the surge and his air consumption was great. We came up (20 feet from the mooring ball) and at the specified time…RD was not there. Turns out our watches were not synchronized. RD got there early, finding us not there he went to “plan B”…then the motor on the dinghy quit. Turns out in the 10 foot sea’s he had kicked the gas line off! He finally showed up and hauled us in (well, hauled me in, Clancy was quite capable of getting in the dinghy himself).
Once back at the sailboat we broke down the gear, ate breakfast and set sail for Sopper’s Hole. We got there and found a mooring ball right away then took the dinghy in to pay for the mooring and get a bite to eat. We sat at the restaurant for an hour before we finally got our food (and we were the only people in the place! We have not been impressed with the service anywhere in the BVI’s so we weren’t terribly surprised.
Once back at the boat we all took naps. I got up and made dinner but couldn’t get anybody to wake up so I guess we can just have it for breakfast!
4/4/10
After eating last night’s dinner for breakfast we headed back to The Bight and Willie T’s (our first night’s mooring and our last night). The wind was not great but we finally made it and pulled up to a mooring buoy. After lying in the sun, swimming to cool off and eating a sandwich…RD took off in the dinghy for Willie T’s and left Clancy and I stranded on the boat! We sat around staring at each other for about a half hour but when it was apparent he wasn’t coming back for us I looked at Clancy and said “let’s swim over”. We pulled out the snorkel gear and headed for Willie T’s. RD picked us up in the dinghy about half way over and we went back to Willie T’s.
The rest of the afternoon was spent drinking, jumping off the boat to cool off and meeting interesting people.
4/5/10
In the morning we started getting our gear together, ate a quick breakfast and sailed about half way back to the marina. When it became apparent that we wouldn’t make it back to the marina in time we turned on the engine and motor sailed the rest of the way. As we pulled into the harbor I got on the radio to let Sunsail know that we were on our way in. They meet you, get on board and take over for the return to the slip.
It took about an hour to clean up and get all our gear packed up and off the boat. The dive shop wasn’t answering their phone so it was decided to leave the dive gear on the boat (it wasn’t scheduled to go out right away) and I dropped them an e-mail to let them know (they wanted us to leave it in front of the Sunsail office but Sunsail wasn’t going for that).
We took showers and cleaned up in the shower/restrooms at the marina and had lunch while waiting for our 2:30 taxi to the airport. After paying our $20 exit fee we went through security. RD was the “it” guy, he got practically strip searched as we went through the primary security and then there was a secondary one where they stopped him and went through his checked bag! In Puerto Rico the same thing happened…it was just not his day. We finally hit Tampa at about midnight and headed back to the hotel we stayed at before to get 4 hours of sleep and pick up our suitcase that we left there.
4/6/10
RD and I had a 7:00 flight to BWI but Clancy’s flight back to Montana wasn’t until 1:00 so we left him in the room sound asleep. We landed at BWI, got a rental car and were at Walt and Thea’s by 10:30. We spent the rest of the day catching up.
4/7/10
RD and I got up early and took off down to the marina to “see” the boat. Jill, one of the owners was there waxing and shining, making it look pretty for tomorrows survey. RD left her our card and we took off to have a drive around Annapolis (this time with a GPS so we wouldn’t get lost). We ended up driving down to the marina about 40 minutes south of town where our broker is suggesting we keep the boat. On the way down there Jill called and invited us down to the boat for cocktails with her and her husband Tim so they could answer any questions we might have and take us through the boat. We are thrilled!
After looking around the marina a bit we decided we were sleepy so tipped our seats back and took a cat nap before driving back to Annapolis to meet up with Jill and Tim. They are much younger than we expected but really nice. We spent about 2 hours there and only left then because we were a half hour late meeting up with Walt and Thea for dinner. It was so nice just sitting in the cockpit, having a drink and talking…like being on vacation!
4/8/10
Up and going early again this morning, Walt made us a great breakfast and we said our goodbyes to him (he is leaving this afternoon for a fishing trip he had previously planned) as we headed off for our 9:00 appointment with the inspector, our broker and their broker for the survey and the sea trial.
The inspector’s name is Peter and he has a bit of a British accent but not so strong you can’t understand him. Most of our morning was spent sitting around as he went over the boat with a fine toothed comb. Their broker finally showed up and he drove us to another marina for the haul out to inspect the hull and the propeller. Once we were back in the water we motored out onto the Chesapeake and put up the sails, 3 of them, one at a time, to make sure they were in good shape. As soon as the first sail went up RD and I looked at each other with huge grins on our faces. Boy, oh boy, does she move nice through the water and the main sail goes up with an electric winch and comes down in a split second on something called a “strong trac”…easy peasy! We didn’t really get to “sail” per se, but with 23 knots of wind we were slicing through the water in a hurry even with just the mainsail up. After we had tested each of the sails they cranked the engine up to full and checked it out as well. It all went by too fast and before we knew it we were motoring back to the slip. RD and I would have loved to really spend a bit of time sailing ourselves but their broker did all the sailing, for us it was just a ride along. We can’t wait to take her out and sail her ourselves!
One thing we realized was that we had been going in the wrong direction in trying to come up with a name. We had thought that we wanted a name that represented us but once we were on her with the sails up we realized she needed a name of her own. As some of you know we have solicited help from a whole host of people and though many of the names were really clever, the top two were “LI ZA RD” and “Trails to Sails”, we have decided to go back to the drawing board.
Once back at the slip Dave (our broker) went to get sandwiches and drinks as Peter continued to work on the survey. There was a bit of a problem locating a few things and turning a few things on, so I called Jill and she sent Tim over to give Peter a hand. One of the things Peter couldn’t get to work was the AC. Well, it turns out that when you haul the boat out of the water, air gets in the line and must be bled before it will come on. By the time Tim got there the compressor was too hot (from lack of water) and it will be hours before it cools down enough to turn it on so we will just have to take their word for it that it works.
The survey was very thorough and came out with only minor things that need to be addressed…like a few cosmetic scratches, a broken latch, and no clips to hold the lazerette doors open. Nothing that would stop the sale of the boat from happening so it is a go!
After Peter was done we went and talked to the owner of the marina about taking over the slip that it is currently in. It is right in Annapolis and only about $100 a month more. It doesn’t have a pool like the other one but it is close to town for when friends come to visit, close to grocery stores, and if the weather is good we could even take the dinghy into downtown Annapolis (which is a parking nightmare).
When we got back to Walt and Thea’s we were tired but excited. Thea cooked us dinner as we chattered on endlessly about the boat and what we should name her.
4/9/10
Thea left early this AM, long before either of us were up, but they said we could stay until we leave for Montana on Sunday. It is so strange being in such a big house! We have been in what I have been affectionately calling the “doll house” (900 sq. ft.) for 4 months now and now we are looking at living on boat. I guess we have been in training because the boat felt more comfortable to me than the big house! Although I will miss having a full sized bathroom…
We drove to downtown Annapolis for a late lunch and to walk around a bit. RD is getting better with finding his way around but I am going to need a map for a while.
4/10/10
We tried to drive into downtown for lunch but the main parking lot was full, it’s a Saturday…a great day to drive the dinghy into town! We ended up going for ribs and then back to the house. Both RD and I have spent a great deal of time on-line looking up words, idea’s for names, checking with the Coast Guard to see how many are registered (we’d like something original, some names we looked up had over a thousand registered!) For the past 24 hours I have been mulling “Paragon” over in my brain but once we saw there were 44 already registered, and one of them was right here on the bay, we went back to the drawing board again.
Clancy suggested “Luna Sirena”, which is the name of the 7 ½ foot metal sculpture of a mermaid I have had for close to 20 years. RD looked it up on the Coast Guard registry and believe it or not there was not a single other boat with that name. Lot’s with the word Luna and lot’s with Sirena but no other Luna Sirena (Latin for moon siren or mermaid). It’s feeling pretty good to us but we’ll sit with it for a day or so.
4/11/10
Our flight doesn’t leave until 5:15 this afternoon but we’re just going to hang out here at the house until it’s time to go. RD wanted to go down and look at the boat one more time but I said no, let Jill and Tim have their time to say goodbye.
We hit Seattle at about midnight and picked up our car. We had decided to drive an hour or so east so we wouldn’t have to deal with Monday morning traffic in Seattle. When I woke up we were almost to Spokane! RD ended up driving 12 hours straight through and we were home by lunch time on the 12th!
What an eventful trip! Looking for a sailboat, renting a sailboat and buying a sailboat (well almost, the closing is on the 16th). Now we just have to figure out how to arrange our schedules to spend time on “our” sailboat!