It seems that many good folks have been watching our journey on this blog and are cheering us on. Others hear about the Tartan when they ask me, "What's up", getting way more than they barganed for. All have been excited for us, which is a pretty cool thing when you think about it. For some reason nearly everyone asks about her name.
For now the boat will be known as "The Tartan." It isn't that "Encore" isn't a good name for a boat, it is, actually. (Particularly a retirement - we are doing this after we did that - boat.) But somehow it doesn't seem right for our boat. So, apart from all of the other things that go along with buying a 30 year old cruiser that is on the hard nearly 300 miles away, we face the truly daunting task of finding a name. (And I thought finding kid's names difficult!)
Nomad Too (chew on it for a while, it gets better), Fanai (the Celtic word for "Nomad") and "His and Hers" (Catamaran name) were all considerations. No final decision is yet decided, but "Lapis Lazuli" is currently holding the top spot. The obvious meaning of an intense blue gemstone is a good fit, not just the color of the boat but also the hue of the water we want to anchor in some day. There is also a deeper current to the name which comes via the Eldest Daughter (philosopher, writer and poet) and her Hubby (also philosopher, artist, and a really good Dad). I'll leave the interested to contemplate what that may be, should such consider it interesting enough to pursue. Most importantly the boat is big enough for the name to fit on the hull and look good! (At the moment I have two good looking boats which, I think, makes me leagally insane.)
Lesser concerns include wading through piles of paper for the financing. (One would think we were buying a house...oh yeah, we are!) There is rigging to be un-rigged, an engine to be run, and a controlled mast felling so the boat can be packaged for the road. ("Shipping" a boat? Another first for me.) Then there is the survey, copies of which seem to be demanded by just about anyone. Ours is being done by a guy who retired from the Navy as an Attack Sub COMMANDER! How freaking cool is that? Better yet, he is likely to be nearly as anal, when it comes to mechanical things, as is yours truly. Find everything that's wrong with this boat please, so I know what I need to fix. (And no, he's not the guy who came blasting up out of the depths and dropped his sub on a pleasure boat off Hawaii.)
Since we don't have a cradle for "The Tartan", getting the timing right is really important. When she gets to her new home (temporary as we hope it is) she will need to go straight from truck to splash. So truck + travel lift + operator must all meet at the same place and time. Fun, since such place is not at our marina, (travel lift too small) and time as yet even approximated, let alone determined.
It will all fit together eventually, but for now I'm like that clown in the circus, scampering from pole to pole, trying to keep the spinning plates from falling on my head. Knowing that "The Plan" is now "The Boat" makes it a bit easier.
4 comments:
Congratulation on the "new" Tartan 42. You will love this boat. It sails great and the classic lines turn heads even in sailing saturated Annapolis. Ours is called TARDIS, named after the BBCs sci-fi show from Dr. Who.
Thanks. We are still working on the deal...just about the time I think it is done and dusted some other detail pops up. Right now we are looking at an estimate that suggests there is about $4000 of work needed the engine room. I think we will get there, but not quite there yet.
Oh Sorry. $4,000 sounds more like a new engine than "work needed" to the engine room.
We are waiting for the last freeze so we can dewinterize her, we can't wait to be out again this season.
Well good luck! We are all rooting for you.
Well, that was a boatyard quote for mounts, new engine gages, and a healthy amount of rewiring. I suspect I'll just add them to the list of things to fix when we get the boat to the lake. I always knew this would be a project, its just growing into a little larger project than I had hoped. But you get what you get.
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