What now?

So now we have our first cruising sailboat, what now? Well we have been making lists, adding items to lists, checking completed items off and adding more. We got boat and towing insurance. The bottom has been painted, the topsides buffed and her new name Honey Ryder added. We shipped 9 boxes of boat gear this weekend. Tom - "Do we really need all this shit?" Me - "Yes." **And if you haven't seen or used the flat rate boxes at the post office, you are missing out. I loaded all of Tom' s boat tools into two of the $14.50 boxes. The postmaster said normally based on weight alone it would cost $35 to $40 to ship instead of the $14.50 we paid. Woo Hoo! Good deal considering that we are hemorrhaging $$ at this point. We knew this would happen and planned for it but it doesn't make it any easier when we have been saving for so long. It's tough to let go of the $$.

Our boating friends have been very generous. Paul brought over a truckload (ok, actually it was a Prius full but still a lot) of cruising guides and charts for us to study. He is also loaning us a spare laptop with chart software so we can see if we like the software. Thanks Paul!!!!
Tim and Kim have loaned us their portable GPS/chartplotter. Kim and I were even able to find and evening last week to have an Evil Sailing Sisters GPS learning sessions. Way better than reading the dumb ole manual and the wine and cheese was an added bonus to the learning. Too bad I didn't have that in high school to motivate me. Oh wait....I did but it was doughnuts and beer during homeroom. That explains a lot doesn't it.
Patrick and Nancy sent a very kewl cruising sailboat book. It has tons of good info on setting up a cruising sailboat. We love it Patrick and Nancy.
Tim and Kim gave us a present we hope to never use - a bright red ditch bag. Inside were useful ditch bag items. These included several standard ditch bag items and a few non-traditional items such as Hot Pockets and some corn dog things. We think these are to induce vomiting as no sane person would ever eat Hot Pockets. Many, many inside jokes here and just like a Visa commercial, they are priceless. Finally there was a stuffed cat wearing foul weather gear made for a cat. There is no way to even explain this as it goes beyond inside jokes. But it was awesome. The whole thing. Thanks Tim and Kim. You two are funny freaks!

I have also completed my first boat project. I made lee cloths for Paul's boat. I plan to make some for Honey Ryder but I wanted to start with the ones for s/v Gratitude so I could prefect the pattern and in case I made any mistakes. What are friends for. Anyway, they turned out great. I made them from mesh fabric, the same used to make deck/patio chairs. I added a special feature that is now my signature feature - a snap on eyeglass case. I figured most crew wears glasses so why not give them a secure handy place to keep them so that when they get called up on deck, they can easily grab their eyeglasses and go.

The steps to buying a new boat

There are a million ways to buy a sailboat. There is no right or wrong. I am going to attempt to detail how we did it. Maybe this will help others. Probably not. And why should others be spared the the exquisite mind blow that comes from boat brain overload.
1. Endless research. Web, books, magazines, other sailors.
2. There is no perfect boat. It is a mater of use, location of use, sailing skill, comfort, priorities and oh yeah.....$$$$$$$$$$$$.
3. None of the boats are in the same place. Most are not even in the same state. Comparison side by side impossible.
4. Unlike a car, there generally isn't a test sail. Weird, I know!
5. Even like models of a boat are impossible to compare. Spreadsheeting is the only way to go but it will still bend your mind.
6. Too much research can cause analysis paralysis. We got it frequently as we zero'd in.
7. Shopping trip to see boats can be fun but soon add up if you are flying across the country.
***And I have already started to block out the other stuff since we now own her.
So once you find the boat, make the offer and come to an agreement, the real fun starts. It all happens very fast. Great if you live in the area. A bit tough if you don't.
8. We hopped a plane so we could be there for the sea trial and survey. Of course it was springbreak so flights were nice and pricey last min, hotels scarce and rental cars twice as much. But it was kewl to be there in person of all of that and very important.
9. Paperwork flew around via the internet, overnight and snail mail.
10. Boat porning didn't stop, oh no. It merely shifted. Instead of looking at Yachtworld, we now found ourselves searching for boat insurance, towing insurance, marina's, equipment, software, gpss', captains, boat haulers, cruising routes, etc.....
11. Clarification on taxes was big fun. Almost as much fun at April 15th each year! NOT!
But in the end it has all worked out and come together. The PO (previous owner) has been a great guy to work with and very helpful. And now the real fun starts.

Our First Salt Water Blue Water Boat.

Yep, that's right. We have FINALLY purchased our first cruising sailboat. A 1998 Caliber 40 LRC. We have renamed her Honey Ryder.
1. I use the term finally because we have been planning and scheming for it since soon after we purchased our Catalina 30 in 2001. We have been saving since that same time. And we have been looking casually for the past five years and seriously for the past three years. Cruising Yachtworld and the internet three times a day for a boat can develop into quite a habit. "Hi my name is Sabrina and I have a boat porn habit....response - Hi Sabrina."
2. The name Honey Ryder has been on our short list (of two) boat names for some time. Tom and I both like Ian Fleming/James Bond. Honey Chile Ryder is a character in the book Dr No. In the movie Dr No, Ursula Andress plays Honey Ryder. Just seemed like a kewl boat name.
3. Why is this the first mention of a new boat? Why haven't I chronicled all the crazy details along the way? The emails to For Sale By Owner (and sailors are loony), the emails & phone calls to brokers, the trips to see boats and marina, the offers, the emails? Well because buying a cruising sailboat is a very personal matter. More so than buying a car or house. What one sailor likes and wants, another doesn't. Bottom line....buying a boat is not a committee event. We sought advice where needed and wanted. And to those of you we hit up for said advice....thank you so much!
4. Why a Caliber 40 LRC? They are awesome cruising boats. A). The LRC stands for long range cruiser. Meaning we have some serious tankage in both fuel and water. In a tankage street fight...the Caliber 40 LRC will win. B) Caliber has some really well thought out features. Too many to list here. Go to the web site if you really want to see. www.caliberyacht.com C) We actually toured the factory in May 2008. Afterward, Tom stated it best to Kathy McDonald -"no reason to keep looking. The Caliber 40 LRC has it all." Now we actually did keep looking but Caliber stayed near the top of the list. D) Honey Ryder is a cutter rig. The staysail is actually a detachable. When not in use, it can be moved to the side.
5. Honey Ryder has some excellent add ons - two solar panels, wind generator and spinnaker. There is a bunch of other kewl stuff. She is basically ready to go. She is just wanting for us to get up to speed on all the gadgets. On Lake Perry we simple set out across the lake based on whatever direction the wind was blowing. No nav aids. No shoaling. No barge traffic.