December into January was a blur. Think ….
Transferring a whole LIFE from a boat into a small “condo/apartment” rental is tough. Moving all worldly possessions, fixing, cleaning, sprucing, crying, … yeah, yeah, heard all about it, la de da.
To us it was very emotional; let’s just end with that.
Point to this is that Susie’s second right hand (the camera) was forgotten and finally found whilst cleaning the helm! Hence not a lot of action captured.
On January 27, we cruised over to Portsmouth Boating Center and tied up to await the coming survey.
The prep was over. It was Show Time! (Susie, that’s enough already. Put down the cleaning supplies. She’s beautiful.)
Next up, was the very thorough inspection. When we say “thorough,” we mean rigorous, from bow to stern and flybridge to keel, meticulous two and a half days (approximately 23 hours) of inspection. Of course, knowing us, some of that time may have been spent chatting. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(Thanks, guys!)
The old crew and the new, wrapping up the survey
The big girl showed well. However, after several months of non-use, the outboard on the dinghy wouldn’t start, so the Lil Filly had to make a road trip.
After watching Mike from Portsmouth Boating Center (note to our fellow cruisers: he is a gem!) drive off with the dinghy in tow, we took advantage of the beautiful day to take SaltyMare back to a new slip at Tidewater Yacht Marina.
We then walked the 1.5 miles back to retrieve the car. These would have come in handy…
A week later, the Lil Filly was repaired and back in the water at Portsmouth Boating Center, raring to go. Todd bundled up and took off around Hospital Point to Tidewater Yacht Marina so we could load the dinghy back aboard the SaltyMare. It was such a short trip, however, that he got there before the first mate could – drive this time – back to the boat to ready the crane. (To be fair, one of us was doing uninterrupted donuts at 20 knots [whee!] and the other was stopping at multiple Stop signs.)
All the details were finalized Friday the 9th, and the keys changed hands Saturday, February 10. Our dreamboat is now someone else’s dream come true.
Good luck, Don & Ariel. We are thankful she’s in good hands, and we know she will treat you well! Happy cruising!!
And with that, one door closes, and another opens…
Pssst, Honey, we really need to buy a car for this next adventure…
Our Travels 