We've spent the week being taught on "Edith of Trossa" (foreground). Pretty intensive.  A great learning experience. Tomorrow the kids come in and we transfer to another boat for ten days of cruising on our own.  What an amazing experience!

April 28 2015

Snorkeling this morning at "the Indians"

With our classmate Betsy and instructor Brian.

Friday, April 24 2015

We arrived in the Virgin Islands yesterday. Spent two hours in the classroom and six hours on the water today. Absolutely beautiful!  Same schedule tomorrow, then we board a 43 foot boat tomorrow evening where we will spend the next five days sailing the islands.

Bonnie and I leave for the Virgin Islands this coming Friday.  This morning, as part of our worship in each of the three services, the congregation had a special commissioning service.  Rev. Doug Portz, a pastor on our Presbytery staff, offered a great message around the theme of "needed rest".  Then they took my stole, a symbol of my ministry, and placed it in the front of the sanctuary -- a reminder to the congregation and to Bonnie and me of the wonderful connection we share.  The congregation was then invited to gather around us, place their hands upon us and to pray for us.  It was a very beautiful and very powerful experience.  FCPC is an amazing congregation, and being their pastor these last ten years has been a great blessing and joy. 

Earlier in the week Bonnie and I went down to Annapolis to meet with the guy who is doing a lot of work on the boat; helping to transform it from a daysailor/weekender to a coastal cruiser.  His name is Andy Fegley and he is the owner of Yacht Electrical Systems in Annapolis.  It was great to be able to go through the boat with him and get to know him a little better.  I think he is going to do a great job.

The visit also gave us a chance to do some of our own preliminary work on the boat.  Among the tasks was giving Heartsong her new name.

Exciting to see the new name there.  It is still hard for us to believe we actually own this boat.  Getting her outfitted has turned out to be pretty consuming -- supplies for everything from cleaning the toilet to handling medical emergencies.  I keep waking up at night and thinking of more details to cover.

Just a few more days to get ready!  What an incredible gift the church and the Lilly Foundation have given us!

One month from today Christopher, Jonathan, Anna and her husband Kaulin will be joining us in the British Virgin Islands.  Bonnie and I will be finishing an eight day course with Colgate Offshore Sailing that morning, and then the kids arrive a few hours later.  Just one month from today!  Wow! We are chartering a 50 foot Beneteau:

No, the women won't be joining us.  We will be both captain and crew.  Lots of amenities on the boat and with four separate berths it should be really comfortable for the six of us. None of us have been to the Virgin Islands, and we are all looking forward to the sailing, hiking, snorkeling and exploring together.  Best of all will be the chance just to hang out together on a great boat in a beautiful setting!

     It's done!  We signed the "Acceptance" form last night that commits both us and the seller to moving forward.  The formal closing won't be until next week, but for all intents and purposes we are now the proud owners of our very first boat, "Heartsong."  Wow!  I've been dreaming about this moment for about as long as I can remember.

The picture above was taken as I was walking down the dock and seeing the boat in the water for the first time.  I had driven down for the survey and here my sense of excitement is growing as I'm getting closer.  Part of a survey includes getting the boat out and testing all the systems, so I'm going to be seeing her sail for the first time, as well. 

Our surveyor was Tarn Kelsey of Kelsey Marine Surveys.  He did a great job, taking a lot of time to not only share what he was seeing, but also to explain the various systems as we went through them. 

It was incredibly helpful.  Best of all, his initial report was that the boat seemed to be in really good shape given its age (23 years).  The hull, the deck, the sails -- all the major stuff looked good.  There were some problems with the engine, but those are being addressed even as I write. My biggest concern going in was that the sails would be messed up.  We hadn't been able to see them before this.  I was thrilled to see how good they looked.

I wish I could have gotten a picture with both sails up, but right after the genoa was unfurled I was invited to take the helm.  In 8 knots of wind (not much!) the boat was moving at just over 4 knots (impressive!).  I'm used to much heavier boats in this size, and I was amazed to see how nimble and responsive she was -- even in reverse which is a pretty big deal when you are trying to maneuver into a small slip.  These were the very qualities that we had been looking for when we chose this boat over the Pacific Seacraft in the first place.  It was encouraging to see them confirmed.    

Our broker, Dave van den Arend with Crusader Yacht Sales, did a wonderful job working with us.  The whole process of buying a boat was new to us, and at times it was a bit overwhelming.  Dave worked incredibly hard, calmly guided us through each step, and made some great connections for us along the way.  I would recommend him in a heartbeat.

So now, after years of exploration, we are committed to a boat.  I can hardly wait.

The last couple of months have been quite a journey.  At one point it looked like there wasn't going to be a boat, but this morning we put a check in the mail for a deposit on this 1992 Tartan 3500.

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.