It is said
that the two happiest days of a boat owner’s life are the day they buy a boat
and the day they sell it. We just had those two days in the same week and we’re
still a bit shocked with how fast everything is unfolding.
When we
hauled out Olive in October we had no plans of sailing until May, no plans of
finding her a new family and no plans of selling everything and taking off.
Well, we just found Olive a great family, sailed the Chesapeake in January,
found a boat we can live aboard and if all goes well, we’ll be taking off in
the fall.
As
mentioned, Olive found a new family last weekend; a lovely couple from Québec City
planning to take her out East on Lake Temiscouata until they retire. At that
time, they’re planning to sail her on the Saint-Lawrence River and eventually…
take her South! We’re very happy to have met such nice people and are convinced
that they will take great care of her. I was getting all emotional about
letting her go to strangers: What if we didn’t like them? What if they didn’t
care for her properly? What a relief this is!
As for the
new boat… We drove south to Annapolis, for the second time since December, to
survey and sea trial her. Of course we had our share of snow flurries in the
mountains, but the weather here is actually quite good. We had a great day with light winds, no rain
and no snow. Still hard to believe that, as we drove by Baltimore yesterday,
the weatherman on the radio kept talking about a named winter storm warning and
recommended that people work from home in the Washington DC area on Thursday. Even harder
to imagine: it is currently -20°C in Montreal and we sailed this afternoon!
We were
quite impressed by the quality of our surveyor, Peter Hartoft, and with how extensive his survey was. What we had done when we purchased Olive can not even come close. We
have to say that the overall buying experience in Annapolis is a world away from what we had seen so far. Having a good and friendly broker that knows his
way around certainly helps; especially when buying from out of state, or even
out of country. We succeeded in having a very thorough survey, a launch, a sea
trial, an engine expertise, a haul out, a quote for a new standing rigging and
a trip to the sail loft; all within 8 hours. Busy but efficient day! And, if we
might say, everyone here has been absolutely wonderful to deal with!
So, how’s
the new boat you’re asking? We can’t say it was love at first sight, just like
Olive come to think of it, but she sure is growing on us and feels like home
already. Just need to get a few things sorted out and we’ll be able to make it
official. We were discussing it over dinner and it’s slowly sinking in that
this time, we might just be sailing away for good. The boat layout is great for us, she has loads of storage space, large water and fuel tanks, she is very well
equipped, she has seriously cruised before and with a few updates, she’ll be ready to
do it again. We’re hoping that this will reassure the most “concerned” of our
friends and family members and allow everyone to enjoy the experience; from
inside and outside the boat.
Driving to
Toronto tomorrow as it is this time of year again, it's the Toronto Boat Show!
Places of interest: Boatyard Bar & Grill, Severn Ave & 4th Street,
Annapolis, MD, USA
This restaurant
was recommended to us twice today, so we decided to try it out. The cream of
crab is worth the trip alone, so are the crab cakes. Also loved the decor that will
make any sailor feel at home.
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