Will The Dream Come True?

[Ole Anderson]

Had boats all my life, mostly inboard ski boats, but now I have a old 19' center console sitting in salt water in FL and a pontoon in fresh water in MI. And my son keeps his ski boat at my dock in MI. BUT I would love to have a friend that has a sailboat...growing up my uncle had a wooden 24 footer up in Cheboygan MI that he would take out to Mackinac Island.

Edit: How could I forget? My wife grew up on a lake that had a small Sunfish club that raced every Sunday. Her dad had one that we ended up with. Sailed it a few years on our lake but too many weeds for the centerboard so we sold it. Got real involved with tournament slalom and trick skiing with my buddies and lost interest.

[Tom M King]

I grew up with inboard ski boats here too, and only took up sailing in my early 20's.

[James Waldron]

Nice boat, Julie. In my life, I've found a boat to be a hole in the water into which the owner and others pour our hearts.

Maybe, if its as good a boat as it seems, you'll have the moment, alone on watch, most often on an overnight passage, steering (or supervising the autopilot) when your boat sings to you. Can't be topped! Listen for it.

From the listing, it looks like a very good value. Ellis designs are good performers and pretty comfortable boats, too. Appears very well equipped for long range and off-shore work; the old electronics are not that shabby if they work, although spending on repairs may not be worthwhile if they aren't working. You might benefit from updating chart software if it's not current. And keep up your piloting and dr skills on paper charts, too, since the gear can fail or juice to run them can be lost.

I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best on your survey.

And about that little J Class boat, ....

[Roger Feeley]

I know myself well enough that I wouldn't be happy owning a boat although I love the idea of owning a boat. I live too far from the water that it would be a weekend thing and then I would just spend my time cleaning and maintaining the thing. Then, our pool guy clued me in. He has a boat at some marina around here where it's stored in a warehouse. He calls a couple of hours ahead and they take this giant forklift and put his boat in a slip for him. Cleaning is included. That and unlimited visits costs him a couple of grand a year. In the DC area, that's pretty competitive with slip fees. The marina offers full repair services that he says are fairly priced. Now, I'm a little tempted... That's almost as good as having a friend with a boat.

[Malcolm McLeod]

... the old electronics are not that shabby if they work, although spending on repairs may not be worthwhile if they aren't working. You might benefit from updating chart software if it's not current. And keep up your piloting and dr skills on paper charts, too, since the gear can fail or juice to run them can be lost.

....

And about that little J Class boat, ....

Forgot where I heard this (maybe SMC...), but I find it classic and it seems appropriate: Guy shops for weeks for new GPS system for his blue-water boat, then has his friend (a world-class expert in GPS) review his selection. Guy says, "It will hold ALL my charts; no need to carry chart books."

Friend picks up chart book and SLAMS it to the floor, retrieves it and hands it to the guy, commenting, "This one still works."

...How is the J-Class coming??

[Julie Moriarty]

Reading all the replies made me feel I'm in good company. Certainly brought a smile to my face. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has ever brought me more joy than the times I spent on the water. I have tales from gorgeous sails, beautiful sunrises and sunsets to harrowing storms. I've loved them all.

Malcolm, I was raised on paper charts and dead reckoning. Years later my dad bought a LORAN but I never abandoned the paper charts and won't start doing so now. I've never had a chartplotter on board. But lessons of the past taught me well, paper is king.

One time coming back from the Bahamas we hit a nasty squall that pegged the anemometer at 70. Then the lights on board started flickering. I went below to take a reading off the LORAN and watched as the numbers vanished. Fortunately, right below that was the paper chart I had only recently marked our position. What had my dad in a panic was the depth sounder was reading 0.5 ft but I knew we were in a shipping lane. Later I figured out the transducer must have been out of the water. We were heeled over far enough for that to be the case.

[Steve Jenkins]

I hope your survey went well and you will soon be on the water

[Malcolm McLeod]

Sounds like you have this one covered, so I’ll just hope my story was smile-worthy.

Good luck on survey, and safe travels!

[Julie Moriarty]

Got the survey today. Everything was good. The surveyor said the hull and deck were rock solid. When he started up the engine he was surprised at the absence of black smoke. He said the owners have taken excellent care of it. It was good to hear. With all that I've got going on the house, I don't need another project right now. Looks like we'll close next week.

I'm starting to feel nervous again...

[Tom M King]

Glad to hear it. I thought it looked good in the photos. How close is it to where you live?

[David Helm]

Congrats!! By the way. whatever happened to the Alden (John Alden may have been the best boat designer of all time)? How was it rigged. Many of that size were either schooners or cutters with the occasional yawl.

[Frederick Skelly]

Congratulations!!!!!!

[julian abram]

I'm late to the party but wanted to say Congratulations! It's wonderful to see folks get to live their dreams.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks again for all the well wishes. I'm still in that seeing is believing stage. We're supposed to close Tuesday.

How close is it to where you live?

If we take the Okeechobee Waterway, it's about 250 miles. From Titusville it's about 100 miles south to Stuart. That's where we enter the OWW. From there to home is another 150, give or take. I'm thinking we need about 10 days to bring her back. With all the bridges and locks, we'll be lucky if we average much more than 25 miles a day.

[Julie Moriarty]

Congrats!! By the way. whatever happened to the Alden (John Alden may have been the best boat designer of all time)? How was it rigged. Many of that size were either schooners or cutters with the occasional yawl.

When I sailed her she was a sloop but she was originally a ketch. The owner, a close friend of my dad's, passed back in the 80s, when he was in his early 50s. I don't know what happened to her after that. But here's a link to the Alden registry for that boat. I do know she won the Chicago-Mac race in 1937 & 38. In '36 she was one of 8 boats to finish the race. A big storm came in and most boats quit.


I don't know if my dad's friend converted her to a sloop but she was still named Rubaiyat then.