Questions, questions...

We got a great complement on buying not just a boat, but a true yacht. But then were asked, "How does it sail?"

RutRow..

There are a couple of you-tube videos that suggest the Tartan 42 sails pretty well and has even won a couple of races. John K. tells me the Tartan will sail a lot like his Kaufman 47, that we will do fine, and that we will love it. (John K, by the way, has more than 300,000 blue water miles. I have about 10. There is a small chance that what he finds easy and second nature will be a complete mystery to me.) Many people have stated that all Tartans are pretty good sailing boats...though that would include the Tartan sales rep. at the Chicago show, the Broker who is selling us this boat, (Neither of whom would tell me anything but the gold-plated truth, would they?) and a bunch of people who, so far as I can tell, have never owned or sailed on a Tartan.

Here is a list of the things that have to happen before we actually try and sail this beastie. I'll start after the closing since, if that doesn't happen, I will not care how it sails.

Un-rig the boat, drop the mast, pack all for shipping...

Put boat, mast, rigging and what-not on the truck...

Get truck and boat from Chicago to Carlyle all in one piece...

Have truck and boat, travel lift and operator meet all in the same place at the same time - on a Saturday...

Get boat from truck to water...

See if boat floats...

Make sure boat has fuel, figure out how to start engine, and get boat, mast and rigging from one marina, across the lake, to our marina - (I hope to have at least one chase boat for this operation should The Tartan need a tow to complete the trip)...

Get boat safely secured to its new home pier...

Figure out rigging, build up mast for install...

Move boat to mast hoist, step mast, rig rigging, hope nothing big falls down, and get boat back to home pier...

Order new main sail, get said sail built, (stitched, sewed, assembled, whatever) have it shipped, and figure out how it goes on the boat...

Figure out this roller furler thingy, get it on boat...

Run lines, sheets and ropes all over the place - do that as many times as it takes to get them right...

Screw up courage, toss lines, take boat out on the lake...

Then I can tell you how she sails.

Video of another Tartan 42 sailing