We are going to call her "Heartsong". We've been in this process for a long time, and we were leaning towards a Pacific Seacraft 34, but when we saw a Tartan 3500 down in Florida we fell in love with it. That boat was a 2001 model and well beyond our price range, but when we got back here we found this boat in Annapolis. John Kretschmer, one of the more trusted voices in the sailing community, wrote "The Tartan 3500 is a perfect example of what's right with the sailing industry. Handsome, well designed and soundly engineered, the 3500 is a sleek performance-cruiser... [Designer] Tim Jackett hit a home run with the 3500... The 3500 combines the quality components and sense of elbow room that Americans expect in a boat with the lively sailing and sleek lines of European builders."
That "elbow room" part was an important piece for us. Bonnie and I are going to be sharing this space for nearly three months, and there is enough room for us not to be on top of each other all the time -- enough room for the occasional guest and all three of our kids should they be able to join us.
This isn't a boat I would want to take around Cape Horn, but for the coastal cruising that we've planned this seems just about perfect. We're thrilled. The next step will be a professional survey, and if that goes well we will close on the boat towards the end of March.
