Category Archives: Boat Search

Introducing S/V Andromeda!

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I feel like we’ve just given birth, such has been the waiting, watching and anticipating and anxiety-ridden stress of the last two weeks. And the eating! Lord, can you say ‘stress eating’? But the gestation period, which took about the same amount of time as gestating an elephant, is over. The new ‘baby’, a big blue girl named Andromeda, is finally here. Or, rather, she is in Astoria, Oregon. There are some loose ends to tie up with the financing and paperwork, but that is going smoothly after a day of difficulty when we feared the contractions had stopped, causing a day of major ‘freak out’ and frantic Facebook posting. Unless something catastrophic happens now, things should be pretty straight forward from now on, and we can soon call her our own. And because we have a backup plan in case the bank does a 180 on us, it’s just going to happen.

S/V Andromeda. Love. That. Color!

Just Her Statistics

1975 47 foot Olympic Adventure ketch, major refit in 1987

Designer: Ted Brewer

Builder: Olympic Marine, Greece

In the recent past when I was scouring Yachtworld on an almost-daily basis, I came across the listing for this boat and was immediately smitten by the turquoise color of her hull and by name of the boat, which was listed as ‘Aquarius’ (This was the wrong name because, FYI, lots of Yachtworld listings are just copy/paste jobs of previous listings for the same vessel. Grrr.). I liked that name and our boat, Moonrise, has the astrological symbol for ‘Aquarius’ on either side of the moon on her hull, something I thought was a nice synchronicity. Alas, in those days we did not think we were in the position to buy, and she was out of our price range, anyhow. We could look, but we could not touch. Still, her layout and sail plan were perfect so I bookmarked her page and checked back occasionally to see if the price had been lowered. Very soon there was a ‘sale pending’ on the listing. So I just moved on.

Months passed and we languished in our attempts to sell Moonrise. Discouraged, we pretty much stopped looking at boats. We were convinced we had to sell Moonrise first.  Personally, I was pretty tired of the whole thing; tired of being on the roller coaster, and actually tired of looking at boats that we couldn’t buy. If you have been reading our blog for awhile, you’ll know that we considered just taking our Cal 34 to Mexico and calling it good. We didn’t want to do that, we really did not.  But I was coming to terms with it because it seemed like the only way. We were not looking outside the box, to coin a phrase.

After our surveyor climbed the mast, Mike couldn’t wait to try out the mast steps. Yes, he is tied off for safety.

Then, two weeks ago, Andromeda’s owner, John,  saw our ad and emailed me that he had a boat he thought might work for us. Would we be interested? I looked at the photos and realized it was the same boat that had been listed as S/V Aquarius; the very one that had been sold before. The sale had fallen through when the engine was found to have water in the oil. John had removed the listing from the brokerage and was selling it himself. He said this would be a good opportunity for us to get the boat at a lower price because he was going to have to pull the engine. When, exactly, do owners actually say that? We agreed and made an appointment to go see it the following weekend.

All four of us piled into the car to make the trip to Astoria. I felt amazingly calm because I was at the point where I knew it would either be the right boat or it wouldn’t and besides, we couldn’t afford moorage for another boat so we were probably wasting our time.  Mike was fully prepared to dislike the boat, for it to be too big, for it to feel ungainly. But even as our thoughts kept coming up with reasons why it was silly to even look at this boat, it was already uncanny how things were coming together. Moorage in Astoria is cheaper than dirt. We could afford to pay for an entire year of moorage at a time, making that payment a non-issue and giving us more time to sell Moonrise if necessary. Moonrise is fully paid for, so other than moorage, we won’t have any expenses for her for awhile. Our ‘in the box’ thinking began to unravel.

You can turn this table over and put a cushion in the middle to have a berth-type settee. We love the little table! So useful. Owl not included.

When we first saw Andromeda, I was so relieved that she actually looked just like her photographs. She is the same color of turquoise blue and I love it! We stepped on board and went over every inch of the deck and cockpit. I put off going below until I had a good feel for what was up top. Able to see the bow from a seated position at the wheel? Check! Cockpit fully nap-able? Check! Great winches, excellent sails with easy reefing systems? Check! Windlass that works? Check! Then I went below and checked out the interior. My decision was made.

Meanwhile Mike was doing his own tour of the boat and having fascinating conversations with boat owner, John.  It took almost no time at all for us to be of one mind that this was definitely our boat and we would simply find a way for it to work. Andrew and Claire both gave it the ‘thumbs up’ and all of us really liked the owner of the boat, John. He’s just a great, honorable guy, an avid sailor, and has taken really good care of this boat. We hope to remain friends with him. Bonus!

We love the views from the marina in Astoria.

So what is it about this boat that made us decide right away to buy it? Only this: it pretty much has every single thing we said we wanted, with only a minor exception or two; easily remedied. Let’s make this easy. Here’s a partial equipment list.

Center cockpit, with bottom sider cushions with covers
Hard dodger, with viewing window and windshield wipers
Full cockpit enclosure
Ketch rig with removable inner forestay
9.5 oz main and mizzen sails in excellent shape
Lofran electric windlass with remote
Muir stern anchor windlass with wash down
65 lb Bruce anchor w/300′ of high tensile 3/8″ chain
23 lb Fortress with 40′ chain and 250′ 1/2″ rode
Stainless steel swim grid with fixed swim ladder
Custom stainless heavy duty davits with self tailing winches
24 mile Furuno radar, older, but it works
Kenwood SSB radio and tuner with insulated back stay
New Raymarine below decks autopilot
Two solar panels with new charger/controller
Excellent non-skid on deck with intuitive hand holds
Stanchions are hip height and sturdy
Mast pulpits
Lazy jacks and sail covers on main and mizzen
Mast steps. Mike has already been up the mast.
Liferaft. This needs inspection and repacking. Don’t know if it’s good.

And then, you know how I feel about comfort below:

Amazing head room. The current owner is 6’4″ and he stands tall in the boat.
Plenty of opening ports and hatches, including one right above the galley.
Three staterooms. THREE! One triple, one double, one single.
Large marine fridge/freezer space. (We have to replace the unit on this.)
Fresh and salt water pumps
Hot water (14 gallons)
Diesel cabin heater
Two heads (Actually, I did not care about this, but I’ll take it.)
A full stand up shower (Again, who cares? But I’ll take it.)
An engine ROOM. That’s right! Mike is so happy it’s kind of pitiful.
A WORKSHOP! Right outside the engine room doors. OMG!
A comfortable salon
Good storage pretty much everywhere
Beauty!

Salon on S/V Andromeda

Is there work to be done? Of course! Much has already been done on this boat, but there are enough projects to keep us busy for awhile. The hull, deck, masts, and other expensive things are in sound condition. John has already removed the old engine (by himself!) and the engine room is ready to be cleaned, prepped and painted. Mike will be rewiring much of the boat because he’s kind of a wiring geek and a little persnickity that way. He wants it done to his standards. The boat had a serious refit in 1987, including that pretty blue color,  but that’s still long ago, so systems need to be updated.

There is months worth of work in this engine room, where all the systems come together.

And, of course, there will be a new engine. We’ve been putting money aside in the boat kitty and have been able to save enough to buy the engine. Right now we are researching the best deal on an engine because we need a signed ‘intent to purchase’ contract in order for our bank financing to work. We’ll hire someone down in Astoria to help us put it in, but Mike still has to choose his poison: Beta Marine or Yanmar? He’s researching the heck out of it.

I thought this table dropped down to make a big berth, but it doesn’t 🙁

Literally the only thing I was disappointed about in this boat has to do with the settee in the salon. I have a vision of a seating area that includes a deep settee and comfortable pillows. I want the equivalent of a comfy sofa in a boat we will live on. When we first saw the boat, I assumed the table dropped down and that you could create a large double berth in the main cabin, but such is not the case. This disappointed me, but I am going to work with it. I have some ideas about how I can keep this table, which is really beautiful and versatile, and create a wider settee with the comfortable pillows I envision. Oh, I will eventually have my cake and eat it, too. That’s way down on the list, however, about the time I replace cushions.

So, one giant leap forward with the plan. We are excited and also have moments of being overwhelmed with the thought of owning this kind of boat. She is just so very different from our little Cal 34; so much boat! But we absolutely love Astoria and are going to completely enjoy spending weekends down there at the mouth of the Columbia River. I foresee us doing everything we can to spend longer weekends down there. Change is in the air!

If you want to see more photos of the boat, go to the Picasa Album I made just for our readers.

We hope she will take us on many adventures! (It’s an older photo. Rear solar panels are gone, as is wind generator.)

Fall on the Way

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All is quiet on the home front this week. Fall is rolling in and we’ve had rainstorms with thunder and lightning. Weird. We’ve had a lot of that this year. After recovering from an injury to my shoulder, I’m back to re-creating the garden; getting it easier to care for in anticipation of renting out the house in a couple of years. Going through the garden it is striking how many plants I have. Some I cannot even identify anymore, like this little succulent I’ve had in this pot for about 6 years. I noticed a bloom on it for the first time today. It is pollinated by flies, I remember. If I stop trying to remember it will come to me. Some days I’d kill to get my estrogen back.

An unusual flower, to be sure. A Stapelia, perhaps? From South Africa, I’m pretty sure.

Mike and I have been talking about finding another home for my beloved koi. I bought them when they were little babies and now they are all huge and swim to the edge of the pond to be fed when people approach. Alas, a 4000 gallon pond is a liability when renting a house. Plus, no one would really know how to care for this pond since I designed the system and know all of its quirks. Mike has a vision for a pondless stream that would allow our bird friends to continue to enjoy the water without all the care a pond requires. I have a vision for a firepit next to the stream. Things have to be un-created to make room for new creations.

Migrating Cedar Waxwings

This week a flock of hundreds of migrating Cedar Waxwings descended upon our stream to bathe and play in the water. I managed to creep outside with my camera and watch for awhile. Then, in response to some silent signal, they took flight and were gone. I still remember the sound of their wings in the air, the rush of the wind as they flew past and were gone.

This lovely hardy begonia requires no care at all. It will have a place in the newly created garden. It’s in bloom right now.

Lest you think it’s all about gardens and other land based things, boat business is never far below the surface. We have our eyes on another boat and are crossing our fingers and toes that this one turns out better than the last time our hearts were sprung. This time the current owner contacted us directly to tell us about his boat. We were intrigued. We visited, and were more intrigued. So we tread slowly, carefully, and deliberately, even though we still have our Moonrise. If it works out, you’ll be the first to know.

More Boat Stuff

Here are a couple of photos from our recent trip to Friday Harbor. I’m currently working on my review of the Amazon 44 we went to see.

Leaving Seattle behind.

The Victoria Clipper took the route through Deception Pass to the San Juan Islands. Mike and I have never sailed through this way and this gave us a chance to witness the amazing currents without putting our own boat at risk. Unbelievable. And then the fog…

Deception Pass. The cracks of doom. 

Boiling water and fog at 25 knots! What could possibly go wrong?

Another foggy Deception Pass.

Stay tuned.

 

 

 

What’s Happening?

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We are in the transitional time of year here in the Pacific Northwest. Actually, it feels a little bit early for the grey skies but they descended upon us with a vengeance last week, dumping buckets of heavy rain, causing us to close the ports and hatches on Moonrise. Have to say it’s good to have a dry boat. The sun takes longer to burn off the clouds in the morning, the world begins to feel small; womb like. Apparently we are in for an early fall this year, more’s the pity. So all the more reason to seize the day as often as possible and get out on the boat. Just going down to the marina improves our mood. We breathe audible sighs of relief at the open space and the water.

Unseasonably good wind!

On the boat sales front, things are looking up. We feel movement in the air and it’s not just wind on the water. We showed Moonrise to a very nice man who is a knowledgeable buyer, knows what he wants, and is looking for a boat to sail to Alaska with his son. We would love to think that Moonrise would find a home with a family! That would make us feel very good. The same day we received another call from someone looking for a boat for himself and his wife, also a good candidate for Moonrise as we know how comfortable she is for a couple who just wants to spend time alone. The level of interest in our girl is picking up, giving us hope that she will find the right new home soon and we will not actually have to sail her to Mexico and beyond, a trip that would be sure to cause anxiety in my family (and myself, to be brutally honest).

These folks were just drifting around in the light wind, reading a book on deck, enjoying the warm sunshine.

Meanwhile our ad is getting interest from people who might like to work out a trade with us. Wouldn’t it be something if everything kind of fell together all at the same time? Keep your fingers crossed for us and do whatever other little rituals to the Gods of fortune feel right to you. We’re doing our best to just kind of stand back and observe this whole thing, doing our part to allow things to happen without forcing them. And we’re also doing our best to keep all of our options open. It’s a delicate balance, to be sure.

To continue our education about all things boating, Mike and I are excited to go up to Friday Harbor next weekend via the Victoria Clipper. (That’s right, any excuse to get away.) A trip that would take us 2-3 days on Moonrise can be had for a little over an hour on the Clipper. We’ll be meeting up with Steven Roberts of Nomadness.com and taking a look at his Amazon 44, probably just about the dreamiest boat I can imagine. If you are an engineering geek or any kind of inventor person, you owe it to yourself to explore his website in depth. If you are not particularly geeky, I warn you that Steven speaks in a foreign tongue but the photos are pretty. Put on your Star Trek outfits and beam yourself up to his site. I cannot wait to meet him and see his boat.

Meanwhile, we are enjoying Moonrise so much right now. We realize that when we do get that bigger and heavier boat, we’re going to be giving up for awhile the kind of sailing we can get on Moonrise; ghosting along at 4 knots in about 7 knots of wind, sails completely balanced. We’re willing to give that up for the comfort afforded by a bigger boat, but we do plan to enjoy it while we have it.

My sailor man. He’s a keeper. Damn! I am one lucky woman.