Tag: Boat

Quick yacht update

This is an update and continuation of Day with Melissa post that I made last week. When Melissa and I attempted to go sailing the first time… we realized the boat had some problems…

This week has been frustrating and expensive. Since we bought the boat from a charity in a auction… paying $305 for the yacht was an extremely good deal. It wasn’t like I didn’t come into this expecting to have to put more than that into it. What frustrated me the most is that the former owner was either actually clueless or played it up that everything was totally 100% fine. The short version of the story is that our motor needs a new carburetor, because of a small piece broke on it and we need a new mainsail, because some of the stitching is coming undone.

I took the motor to a Honda dealer in Essex, but the part is on back order from Honda. The dealer hasn’t got an update from Honda when it will be back in stock to ship. I’m hoping that this motor issue doesn’t stretch out too long, but the price to get it fixed was under what I was fearing I would have to pay.

The mainsail is one of the most important parts of a sailboat. Making sure it’s in the best condition possible is one of my priorities. Having a faulty mainsail could spell trouble. Safety is my number one concern when I have the kids and other people on the boat. Because of that reason I opted to get a new mainsail instead of repairing the old one. I had Quantum Sail Design Group go and take a look. These guys have done an amazing job so far. Extremely responsive and accommodating. Ultra professional invoices. They sent me an information packet, via email, about the sail before talking price with me. It was customized to my sail and felt extremely high quality. These guys really seem to have it together.

The new sail is going to take an estimated 4 – 6 weeks to get made. This puts a delay in getting it up to Maryland Marina, but overall it will be a safer trip. He told me truthfully that I can sail on the old one in lighter winds, and that’s what we intend to do until the sail is complete, but we are paying a lot for Harrington Harbor. This week has lead to a lot of stress on my part, but this week is over… almost.

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We bought a sailboat!

On May 15 we officially bought a sail boat. Today, May 22 2019, I got the title officially put in my name. It is a 1979 C&C Yacht 24′ sailboat. It’s a little rough and there are a few smaller projects I need/want to do to make it nicer. The outside of the boat looks good. I absolutely can’t believe the deal we got on it. The boat currently doesn’t have a name and that is going to be a hotly debated topic.

It is housed down in Harrington Harbor at the moment but the new home will be Maryland Marina in Bowley’s Quarters, Baltimore, MD. I like that marina because it checks a lot of boxes for us. There is a playground, private parking, restroom services w/ showers, laundry, and prime slip positions. Maryland Marina is a majority sailboats and the specialist for sailboats in the area. There is a restaurant on the property when we want to stop in and get a meal.

The boat is in Harrington Harbor, it’s going to be a long sail to Maryland Marina. Over the next few weeks I am hoping to go sailing a few times in preparation for the move. I’ve been convinced that my first sailing experience shouldn’t be a potentially 6-8 hour sail. I can probably do it but, let’s be safe and not sorry. Since I am the one with the most sailing experience, I don’t think that adventure should also where I teach my crew to sail for the first time. Gabe and I went though to the same sailing class, but I’ve read a lot more than him and I’ve gone sailing since. However, Billy has never been sailing. I’m going to make sure he goes out once with me and I show him what I know.

Finally, I am looking forward to this adventure. Both the adventure of my first long sail and the general adventure with my family into something new and fun.