Getting her ready...

‘Partners’ is in very good condition and had few item requiring attention on her survey. Like any new boat, 'new' to us that is, there are lots of things we want to do to her so that she will be 'ours'. There is new saloon furniture, updated electronics in the pilot house and maybe a davit/crane to lift our 12' Nautica/40 hp Yamaha dinghy which we kept from our last boat; we are not sure if the mast boom/spar will cope with the 1,000 lb plus weight, we will see. There is another smaller 10' Novurania/15 hp Yamaha hanging from transom stern davits. Having the two will give us a touring boat for those longer day trips and a smaller one that the two of us can run to the beach with and is light enough to be pulled clear out of the water away from the reach of the tide while we are doing a little exploring. Being on the stern davits this dinghy will be convenient to 'drop' down for quick visits to the neighbours or running to the dock from an anchorage for the 'eggs and milk'. Our idea of ‘cruising’ is one of self sufficiency and passagemaking rather than coastal cruising from a home base. We do not have a land base anymore and do not have anything in ‘storage’. With this starting approach we felt that we could then call everywhere home and eventually when the cruising is over, (a sad day) land anywhere we want or find in our travels, and make it our final ‘retirement’ location. We have no anchors, we are free. Back to the job list, new canvas for the bimini top and sun shades for the ports, dodgers for the boat deck and so on. I will be commenting on each of these jobs items as we go through the personalization process.

‘Partners’ is in Oriental, NC and while she is there at Sailcraft Marina awaiting the end of hurricane season so we can bring her back to Florida, (insurance requirement while we are in hurricane season) we are going to use the time to get a lot of the work done. The first job is to peel the bottom and apply a barrier coat. There were a few bubbles in the gel coat below the waterline and, although expensive, we felt it wise to address this now, especially as she is at Sailcraft Marina where they have the experience to do this job. They are also doing most of the updates in the engine room like bringing all the hose clamps to double instead of just a single, replacing none ABYC fittings and hoses and getting fire extinguishers serviced etc. The electrical system lacks GCFI sockets in the galley and heads so we are having those fitted and are generally getting all her systems to ABYC current standards. The yard is also installing a watermaker which is new and was on the boat when we bought her but was not installed by the previous owner. Our frustration is we are not close and cannot visit ‘Partners’ on a daily basis to follow the progress. We are settling for periodic trips to Oriental when our work schedules allow. Lavinia has not even seen the boat yet! She is very trusting of my buying decision! I am confident she will approve although a little nervous of the initial comments when they happen at the beginning of September when we will make our first trip up together.

We are so excited with the prospects of cruising and the unknown adventures we will be experiencing not long from now. We fill our spare time with fun talks planning trips and itineraries although everything is ‘written in sand’ so until the day we cast off comes and we ‘really’ know where we are cruising to this is all just ‘talk’ and not a plan.

The most difficult prospect is leaving our friends and family, so far everyone has been full of well wishes for which we are thankful. Sarasota has been our home together for more than twenty years and we have been very happy here. Most of you who know us have known our ‘dream’ of going cruising. We have continually worked hard towards the 'dream' and have waited a long time for it to materialize, well, it is finally here, we are going to live it!

I will be visiting ‘Partners’ on the 5th August so there will be some more news then.