First day on the boat!

The closing documents finally signed by the seller, so we headed to the boat for the weekend.   Since we're not in the water right now, we can't use our normal air conditioning/heating system since it relies on ocean water as it's "radiator".  And the nighttime temps were in the low 30's.  Chilly for sure!!  With 3 quilts we were toasty warm....our home for the next week or so....

We had a list of things that needed to be addressed.  Really just things the previous owner should have taken care of earlier...Lots of cleaning plus we had to "winterize" all the water systems since the forecast for Tuesday is 23 degrees!  With the boat out of the water, the systems would be very likely to freeze. 

Dawson Creek Boatworks is doing some fiberglass work on the bows....someone had previously repaired "nicks" on the bows.  The repair was note very well done and we want the boat to look nice.  Since fiberglass/gelcoat work is an "art", we decided to have the boat yard do it for us.

They're just a day into the repair - they'll smooth it all and make it look good as new!

We had our first visitors!!  Bill and Kay were at their coast home this weekend.  Bill texted me and said they were looking for somewhere to go....so they dropped in for a look-see with his brother Glenn and his wife!

I had high hopes for the weekend....thinking I'd be able to get everything just "so" and comfy.....but like all projects, it's harder than it looks!  Stuff piled everywhere....

But, we ended up getting alot done.  But lots more to do!  Packed up as the day was about over....still not perfect, but we had to pack it in since weather was moving in tonight at home.

Sure enough, by 4pm when we got back to New Bern airport, the ceilings had dropped.  We were in the clouds on the flight home almost immediately and didn't see the Siler City airport until we were about 4 miles away.....

Little Dinghy

The boat also came with a dinghy.  We hadn't seen it - the owner had it at his house with the spinnaker.....he had told us that it was something he'd never used and that we were welcome to it......

We unrolled it and blew it up with the air compressor (the hand pump was missing, of course...)

A little yucky......

Really just mold and grime.

Nothing some bleach, degreaser and elbow grease can't fix though!  Now just need to get it registered and find some oars! 

A Spinnaker!

I've always loved seeing the boats flying the colorful spinnakers....those billowy sails that are used with relatively light/steady winds coming from behind your boat.  They're usually big and colorful.

This is one I posted about a few years ago on the Pamlico Sound:

Here are a few I nabbed from the web:

We picked up our spinnaker today....

We'd not seen it yet...so, Duane hooked it to a pulley that raised it to the top of the hangar (about 24' high) the sail itself is about 45-50' tall....and this is what it looks like.  The letters say "TOBAGO":

Not quite as colorful as I was hoping....but will be thrilling to fly it the first time!

Getting Close!

We're just ironing out a few details for closing.....the boatyard sent me some photos of Island Girl all propped up out of the water....(we had to leave while they were still moving her, chasing the setting sun before they got her all set up, so this is the first time we've seen her awaiting the repairs)

Haulout and Survey

I was up very early to drive our spare van back down east....Duane got to sleep in (relatively) and fly the airplane down to New Bern where I picked him up at about 7:45AM.  Off to Oriental to meet the marine surveyor, the broker and the boat owner for the long sail/motor up the Neuse River to Wayfarer's Cove Marina.

Mike Draughan is one of the boat brokers.  Nice, knowledgeable fellow.  Helping us get ready to shove off the dock.

Beautiful fall day - warm - glassy smooth water.  (Not good for sailing, but beautiful anyway!)

Meet John Hughes, the marine surveyor we hired to go thru the boat with a fine tooth comb!  I saw alot of him this way for the next several hours!  He crawled into every cavity on the boat.  Some amazing tight spaces too!

See what I mean?

The boat owner and the broker quickly tired of piloting the boat....so I took over for a while.

View aft

View forward -

John banged on every surface on the boat with a rubber mallet - looking for soft deck or any rot.  He also is holding a moisture meter that he used to test if the hull is compromised by wetness.  No problems were found - he deemed it strong and dry!

We lifted the sails (while motoring) for John to inspect.  They are in pretty good shape.

Nice to see them flying even if they weren't really pulling us along very much.

What is a sailing blog post without a ferry photo???  We are going up the Neuse River, so we passed the Minnesott Ferry on the way.

The channel into Wayfarer's Cove is almost invisible unless you know where to look!  Very narrow!

But we made it thru just fine.

Look at completely calm water - like a mill pond!  Approaching the huge travel-lift.  This marina can lift boats up to 20' wide.  Island Girl is 19'3", so it will be a snug fit!

Two deck hands are waiting as we approach the lift to guide us in.

After a good bit of maneuvering, we are under the travel-lift structure.

The huge straps are underneath the boat and adjusted to exactly the correct "lift points" to stabilize the boat as it's lifted.

Out the boat comes as the guy on the left activates the numerous pulleys.

Coming up!

As the entire boat is now clear of the pilings, the lift operator simply drives the structure onto land where they wash the slime off the bottom with pressure washers.  This gives the surveyor the ability to see all the things that he can't while it's in the water.

Several hours later, we make the decision to have the marina keep the boat on dry land for a while so that the owner can do some fairly minor repairs before we close the deal.  Here they're driving the boat thru the boatyard to it's parking place for the next few weeks.

In addition to the owner's list of items, we'll have them do a few things we want done including new bottom paint.

It was a long day....back to New Bern airport for the flight home.

Home just in time for a beautiful sunset!!

Survey day!

We're "off to see a man about a boat" as the saying goes!  It's 5AM and I'm driving our spare van back to New Bern.....Duane is going to follow in the airplane in a few hours.  I'll pick him up and we'll head to the boat for a day with the surveyor, current owner and broker.  We should learn a lot about the boat!

If all is well, we'll leave the boat out of the water at Wayfarer's Cove Marina for the bottom paint and any other repairs we find before completing the purchase.  Then we'll leave the spare van at the New Bern airport for our use for the next few years!

Introducing The Tobago!! Island Girl

We found a neat boat at a good price listed on the Deaton Yacht Sales website in Oriental.  What could be better?  No long distance handling of the boat haul-out/inspection or crazy week long journey to bring a boat back home.

Here she is - "Island Girl" ! 

We still have to have the boat hauled out of the water and inspected (called a survey for boats) on Monday of next week.  The certified surveyor will give us a report of anything that is wrong with the boat.  If all is well, the purchase will be closed rapidly.  If there are problems, we'll have to negotiate with the seller to have it fixed.   Our preliminary walkthru indicated that the boat is in reasonable shape. 

Nice Yanmar diesel engines,  air conditioning/heat, decent navigational equipment, good sails, and strangely a central vacuum system!  Oh, and an electric head (potty) so we won't have to pump the water manually to flush!  (Probably more info than you wanted!)  Oh, and dinghy davits that will hold the dinghy out of the water so we don't have to tug it behind the boat.  Can you tell I'm excited???

This is the main "salon" area. 

In no particular order as I wandered around the boat....

Navigation displays

Closeup of the galley area - nicely laid-out.

One of the three berths.  (The cockpit cushions are leaned up to the right.)

Captains chair and cockpit seating.

This won't mean much to you unless you've fought with screens to keep the mosquitos out of the cabin! This boat has nice tight fitting screens and cool shades that you can pull over each of the hatches to keep the sun and prying eyes away!

Different view in the salon.

Nice cockpit table.

Lots of seating for the "crew"!

Port side/aft compartment - amazing amount of extra space!

And nice size head (bathroom)....OK - I'll stop.  Can you tell I'm excited????