Buying a boat is like buying a house. Instead of a realtor, there are boat brokers. Instead of house inspections, there are boat inspections. And before you can officially claim a boat as your own, you must dot the I’s and cross the T’s. The first part of that is the boat survey process.

Although we were under contract in the first week of March, the survey had to be delayed until mid-month. As many probably know, the northeast portion of the US had been beaten repeatedly with a plethora of winter weather, blizzards, freezing rain and general unpleasantness resulting in a frozen Chesapeake Bay. A large chunk of a boat survey is done on the water, called a sea trial, so we had to wait for the ice to melt before this could take place.

Our boat is nearing the 30-year-old mark and we knew that it wouldn’t be perfect. But once she got lifted, examined with a microscope, and placed out at sea for the day, we learned that she is in fact in as good, if not better condition than we hoped. The engine has a few minor leaks but is in pretty great shape (*update – the engine was in horrendous shape, but we had no clue for the next few months we would be finding out). The hull is sound and the rigging is strong. The only major issue is with the freshwater holding tank, which is the first thing on our docket to be replaced. Everything else that raised an issue is pretty minor stuff, and will be added to our [soon-to-be] never-ending boat project list!

Simultaneously, our house was under contract in less than 3 days. We have a month from now to be out, which will begin the long journey to our future. We have a growing list of things that we hope to accomplish before we take off for the initial voyage! However this list is minor compared to the one that is brewing for the longer refit which will be put off until we are settled in Oriental NC during Hurricane season. Until then…

Primary Boat List