Guess what? It's been a while since I filled in the blog...a long while. I am re-inspired by many things. A old high school friend who posts regularly on his blog, the need to document this crazy ride, and the desire to do something besides sell gas and worry about margins. So, here we go.
Ok, so 2011 was a summer of new adventures on Luna Sole. As it is with old boats, you fix one thing, to find yet another surprise. After we removed the engine, we found core rot in the cockpit floor. Nothing terrible, but it had to be fixed. We removed the helm and cut out a 18" square of the floor and replaced it with a big, thick, honking piece of this mystery stuff called "G-10". I got to do more fiberglass work, in the middle of the summer (Fun Fun!) and spent a week getting expoy out of my hair. (note to self- shower cap!). Then, we decided to check the water tank out. Removed the inspection port, only to see a myrid of black mold! Get it out, get it out I yelled (running around with my hands on my head--ewwww!). So, we removed that and all the plumbing that went with it. We removed the wiring, the propane line, all the water lines, the hot water tank, etc...etc... By August, we were left with not much more than a hull and Tom was working on designing the long awaited engine bearers (yes, August and still no engine). Then, because he can't stop researching to save his life, Tom found "Eclipse".
Eclipse is a 38' 1987 Cabo Rico with beautiful traditional lines, teak out the wazoo inside and out and a gently used history with one owner. She sails like a dream, and surveyed equally as well. The whole time that little voice in my head is saying "What the heck are you thinking?" but, as with this whole adventure, I decided to ignore it. Long story short, the financial forces came together perfectly (as they always seem to do with this whole crazy plan which is one thing that makes me believe it's the right path) and by Labor Day we were ready to launch our new boat. It was a beautiful sunny friday afternoon and the name wasn't even dry on the back when we finally, after 2 long years, celebrated the launch of a vessel (not the one we had planned, but our forever home none-the-less).
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| Toasting the splash with friends |
So, one thing that happens when you buy another boat is that everyone makes fun of you. The second thing is that you suddenly do not work as dilligently on boat #1. We kept Eclipse in the water, enjoyed being in the slip we had financed for 2 years and sailed her a few times with good friends. In November we put her to bed for the winter and went back to Luna Sole. Our winter was spent grinding fiberglass and sanding down more teak for re-finishing. Tom reached a big milestone a month or so ago though when he told the broker that Luna would be ready for sale/sail by early July. Finally, a date!
It's April 17th. There is still no engine bearers, or engine, or plumbing, or wiring on Luna Sole. But, the teak is on it's 4th coat of varnish, the doors are half way re-finished and the tail pipe is re-fiberglassed & seated. We are getting closer. Eclipse got her yearly cleaning/waxing last weekend and we will launch her on Monday the 23rd for another great season. It's challenging having two boats, but Tom and I are committed to getting Luna done and seeing it through to the end. When she is done, someone is going to own a beautiful and nearly-new boat. Hopefully it will be the beginning of someone else's dream!
Isn't it interesting how dreams work out? I wanted a boat to sail. I got one to fix instead. But in fixing it, I learned a lot about my husband, challenged myself to do things I would have never thought I could do, and made a marina full of friends. What did I learn the most? That you should not put boundries around your dreams because, they can be so much more than you ever imagined if you let them run free... Namaste!
