Sail Pandora

It’s Thursday and we just passed Cape Canaveral on our way north on the ICW.  We stopped last night in Cocoa and enjoyed a brief walk ashore (and a beer too, of course).   After a few days of rain we were happy to see the sky clear up but there were enough clouds remaining to make for quite a show at sunset.  Cocoa is a very cruiser welcoming spot with good shore access abutting a lovely waterfront park. 

Today we are headed up to New Smyrna for the night.  After that, probably St Augustine to wait for the low to clear out and then, well, we’ll have to see what the weather brings.   I had hoped to be able to jump out for an ocean run from the start, as I have done for the last two years on my runs from the Bahamas, but there is a nasty low that just won’t quit just off of the Carolinas.   It’s expected to land sometime over the weekend which should give way to some nice favorable winds early in the week.  I am a bit concerned that our run north might stretch beyond two weeks and necessitate a crew change along the way.  Oh well, at least I have a boat that folks want to crew on.  Fingers crossed that we can keep moving.   Anyone interested?  Hmm…

Besides, the crew is getting along well.  Don’t we look happy in this “selfie”?  Yes, pretty happy after a happy hour brew.  Nice way to end a day on the water with friends.The view from the rooftop bar in Cocoa, a brand new place that just opened, was terrific. One way or the other, we’ll have fun at the various stops along the way while we wait for a favorable weather window.   

Here’s Jim steering away at the helm.  Love that hard dodger.Today we were treated to a flyby, several actually, from my favorite bird, the pelican.   With their 4’ wingspan, they are an impressive sight.Well, I guess I had better wrap this up and make lunch for the crew.  I wouldn’t want to trigger a mutiny brought on by low blood sugar, would I?  So far, none of my crew has died from hunger aboard Pandora and I am working hard to keep that from happening.  

It’s Wednesday morning, beginning to get light to the east and the rain has stopped, for now.  After two seasons of fair winds to head north to CT, this year is certainly going to be tougher with a low centered off of Hatteras that is moving so slowly off to the north west that we won’t see favorable winds till the weekend, or perhaps early next week.

Ideally, I’d like to make a short offshore run to get a feel for the new boat as I have never even had the sails up, much less sail offshore with her in nasty weather.  I think it is prudent to take it easy and wait for more ideal conditions to make the “first” jump out.

Yesterday, I called Chris Parker, the weather router, to see what his recommendations were and was surprised and here’s what he advocated.  He thought that my best option was to leave Ft Pierce today and sail a few hundred miles east, to an area just north of the Abacos to take advantage of the northerlies for easting and then hang a left when the low gets further west and I hit SW winds behind the low to turn north to Cape Hatteras and home.  

It was an interesting thought but my concerns are that I don’t have any experinece with this new boat and worse, I don’t have any long distance communication gear to stay in touch with him as the trip progresses for updates on the storm.  This boat doesn’t have a SSB radio so after I am about 25 miles out I won’t be able to get weather updates.  So, if the low persists I might run right into the backside of it and hit some really nasty weather, something that I really do not want to do. 

I took another look at the weather gribs today and it seems that the low is moving faster to the NW than was forecast as recently as last evening. even yesterday so we could probably do what Chris is advocating.  However, I am not going to take the chance with a new boat and limited communications.   Besides, the current model seems to suggest that we might find favorable winds near shore as early as the weekend, a few days sooner than it appeared as recently as yesterday.

So, here’s the plan.  We will head up the ICW for the next few days and jump out and run offshore as soon as the winds are favorable again which could be as soon as the weekend.   One way or the other, we are going to leave and put some miles on.   

Or, to put it another way, we are going to “ditch” the ocean part for now and just go up the “ditch” and be done with it.  Get it?  The “ditch” is the ICW.  Pretty funny, yes?   “No Bob, pretty lame joke but a fine idea.”

Thanks, wish us luck.  

“Hey Bob, where are the pictures?  There should at least be a sunrise. What gives?”

Sorry.  Next time.  

It’s Tuesday morning and, as Brenda would say, “it’s blowing a gale”.  Well, I don’t think that gale is confirmed but it’s plenty windy, let me tell you.  Not a good day to head out for a 1,000 mile run in a boat that I have never sailed.   So, we wait…

Yesterday we left the boat yard where Ariel became Pandora with the application of the new name and hailing port of Newport RI.  We are also sporting a new and very shiny pair of davits to pick up our dink, which is also very shiny as it’s only a few months old.   Good news, the boat came with a brand new Caribe dink due to the previous owner turning in the “slightly worn” one for a warranty problem.  It’s very white, for the moment.

I left Harbor Town Marina, where I am now, on Friday to head over to the boat yard to have the work done and settled in on what was supposed to take a day and a half at most.  Alas, as things seem to go on boats, especially in sunny Florida where most move more S-L-O-W-L-Y than in NYC, the project stretched into four days with everything finally completed on Monday.  Well, technically, it was three days as they don’t work on Sundays.   However, delayed or not, the work turned out quite well in the end.  The folks at the boatyard are very nice but it’s not the sort of place that you want to hang out compared to Harbor Town Marina which is a much nicer place at a much higher price.

The yard sports all sorts of boats, some in various stages of decay.  These two commercial boats have been here for who knows how long.  I wonder if someone is still paying rent on the space they are taking up?  Anyone need a slightly worn fire-boat, cheap?Believe it or now, someone actually paid money to haul this one. It looks like a science experiment gone badly.  Is that a prop under that anemone?  And folks wonder why I am so anal about keeping Pandora so clean.  Beware, EVERYTHING dissolves into chaos…The boat yard is also very tight with boats tied up every which way and I was very pleased to have the nifty bow thruster to turn around in what was an impossibly small basin to back into the slip.  And I should note that the pilings we squeezed into were less than two feet wider than the stern of the boat, not quite enough space to wedge into with a fender on each side.   We had to step on the fenders to get them to squeeze in like partially deflated balloons.  After securing to the dock we built a scaffolding off of the stern so that the welder, Joe, could stand and work his magic.They “tacked” individual pieces onto the structure and stepped back to be sure that everything was level and looked about right.  Frame supports were bent into shape with brute force.   Some of the work required climbing skills in addition to being an expert welder. After everything was secured the welding began in earnest and soon, well sort of soon, everything was ready for polishing.   I was amazed that something that looked like this would eventually gleam brightly, but it did.The finished product looks great and was ready to fit the dink.  My crew, Michael and Jim both shimmied out to the end of the frame to secure the blocks that will pull up the dink. I don’t regard the arrangement of blocks to be quite worked out but it’s quite serviceable for now as I use what I had on hand.  More to come on this when I get back to CT and decide how to refine everything.

CW, the sign guy, did a great job with the logo, based on the one from the “old” Pandora.   It’s grey and silver which looks terrific on the dark green hull.  Earlier in the day we pulled out of the slip and backed in bow first to be sure that there was plenty of room to apply the new name.

He applied it perfectly from a floating dink. He does very nice work. So, all was done by mid-afternoon yesterday and we were ready to return to the marina.  Not…

Oops.  The tide was to low, we were hard aground and couldn’t budge.  Besides, the wind was blowing about 15kts on the beam (not good) and the distance between us and the boats to our lee was less than a boat length.  I had no idea how I was going to back Pandora out of the slip and turn her to get out in that tiny basin without banging into someone.   From the front of the bow-sprit to the back of the davits is something like 53′.  Long boat.

Here’s an idea… Michael is a retired tug captain so let’s have him jump into the dink and do his “tug thing” to keep us crashing into the other boats in the marina.

So, after waiting another few hours for the tide to come up a littlemore, we powered off in reverse while Jim pulled with all his might to help “ooze” our way out.   Michael did his magic and off we went with “no loss of life” as his wife Terri once famously quipped.

Finally…out and on our way.  It was a thrill for me to call the bridge tender  and say “sailing vessel Pandora requesting an opening” for the first time aboard “New Pandora”.

After docking back at Harbor Town Marina we all enjoyed a well earned G&T, well actually, Jim prefers Rum and Tonic.    The bar as open aboard Pandora as the sun was setting. Well, as I mentioned, the weather isn’t cooperating at all so today we’ll be hanging out at the marina, with some sightseeing on the side, for at least another day till this “gale” blows itself out and we can get underway. 

However, dink secure and we are ready…Yes, I am pretty excited about beginning our journey north and our new life aboard Pandora.  You know, the Aerodyne 47 composite one.  

It’s Saturday morning and we have officially owned our new boat, Pandora for two days.  Yesterday, I took her from the dock for the first time.  I have to say that I was nervous and wasn’t very confident about how she would react to the helm and propeller and being alone didn’t make me feel any more certain. Fortunately, the instruments and software on the plotter are nearly identical to our last boat, which made it easier.

I did have someone cast my lines off from the dock and I was also thankful that there was only a slight breeze and current.  Oh yeah, I used the bow thruster.  Pretty neat.  Actually, a lot of problems can be cured with that little baby.   I am sure that I’ll learn to work it fairly quickly but for now I am unsure, at best.

I was moving over to another yard, a “working” yard nearby with “working” being code for pretty rough.  However, Joe the welder, perhaps the owner, not sure, at the yard does very good work and seems reasonably priced.  The plan is to have him put on a new set of custom stainless davits so I can pull the dink up and also have a spot to mount some additional solar.  It was a very tight squeeze to get the boat into the slip stern in.  However, Joe and some others met me and helped guide me in.

With the thruster it was pretty easy.  I can see why “traditionalists” scoff at thrusters.  However, I was in no mood to put a scratch on my new boat.  Mission accomplished.  To be clear, that’s on a successful docking, not scratching.

Here’s Pandora in her temporary home.  Tight?  Yup.  Davits to come. Yes, the cockpit is trashed.  In order to weld onto the arch we had to remove all the wiring, lest it melt from the heat of the welding. Let me tell you, removing all the wires from the arch and replacing them with wire messengers was no simple task.  However, by the end of the day, all was ready.  Now, they have to build the davits.  I am told that they will have everything done by this evening.   I sure hope so as my crew arrives tomorrow morning.   What a mess.  Well, at least I now have nice clean stern lockers.  There must be a half mile of spare lines in the starboard locker.  And, four fuel cans and plenty of other stuff in the port one.  Unfortunately, some of that “stuff” leaked out in the starboard locker so there was a nasty oily mess to clean up.  Good news, it’s clean now.

As is the case at most shops that I have seen in FL, the fabrication area is outside here.  It looks chaotic but they do very nice work here.  Note the welder’s clothing.  The locals that work outside take sun exposure very seriously and cover up every part of their body.  Tourists could learn a thing or two from them.   They say that “there’s no such thing as a good tan”.   With my yearly derm visit, I have to agree.
A show of another “local” a young manatee napping near Pandora.  Cute in a sort of nasty way.For such a populated area, there is indeed a lot of wildlife.  This heron was looking for a hand out.  “Did someone say bait?  I’ll take a dozen.”My friend Carl, an ex SAGA 43 owner, who lives nearby, stopped to see the new boat a few days ago and took me out to run errands.  Along the way we stopped at a marine consignment shop.  Actually, this was the marine consignment shop to end all marine consignment shops.  While most shops I have visited have a lot of used equipment (reads junk), this one had mostly new “extra” stuff from boat builders and suppliers, left over from changed models or perhaps places that have gone out of business.

Anyway, imagine “used” marine equipment that would fill a small Walmart.  A ton of stuff.  The first thing you see as you enter the parking lot is hundreds of bimini frames, center console stations and dozens of huge fuel tanks all stacked up in rows.   And, they are all unused and look brand new.  I would expect that it would be a lot less expensive to have something modified to fit a boat from one of these as opposed to building one from scratch.  Take your pick. Need some instruments to put in that nice, shiny, and new center console boats?   Take your pick…from hundreds, all new.Don’t want to drill all those holes?  How about a full panel system?  Yeah, they have em.How about a propeller to round things out?Electrical panels?  Hmm… so hard to choose.I wish that I had known about this before I bought my new muffler the other day. Alas, they didn’t have one that would have fit. I checked, of course, while I was there just to torture myself.  Of course, you need shade.  Bimini anyone?  Water tanks?  The list goes on and on…  That’s my friend Carl.  He was hard at work choosing and he doesn’t even own a boat.  But, perhaps he can make one from spare parts.  So many choices.    I have no idea what was on this row.  However, I am sure that it would all come in handy.    Anyway, you get the picture.  This place is sort of the guy version of a shoe outlet.  “Oh honey, wouldn’t this pair of speedos look perfect aboard?”  “Whatever… “

Well, I guess that’s enough for now.  I think I have made my point.

Let’s hope that all goes well as there is a LOT that has to go well today to keep everything on schedule.

Oh yeah, the title “Departure soon…”  I put that in to remind myself that time’s short and crew arrives tomorrow.  Yikes…

It’s Thursday morning and today we should see the final paperwork in order to transfer ownership of soon-to-be Pandora to us.  It seems like much longer than the week it’s been since we first arrived here in Ft Pierce on the 21st to become familiar with Ariel and have her surveyed, the Aerodyne 47 that we have purchased. 

It’s been since mid December since we first learned that the boat was seriously for sale and that Miles and Loreen were going to move on from the boat that they had lived aboard for the last seven years.

Ariel, as she has been known until now, was built about the same time that we took delivery of Pandora, our SAGA 43 and she was only about a year old when we first saw her in Great Salt Pond Block Island.  She’s a very unique boat and I was attracted to her design as a standout from most of the “Clorox” bottle boats that are so common these days.   I would have never imagined that we would one day own her, or should I say “she would own us”.

Well, now we are owners of an even larger “money pit” and I expect that dollars will flow as fast as she sails, which is pretty fast indeed.

I have been living aboard here in Ft Pierce since Brenda left on the 23^rd, about a week ago and have been slowly acclimating myself to the many complex systems aboard.  One particular issue that came up in the survey was that the muffler was leaking.  I agreed to take the boat and make the repair myself although it was anything but clear as to how I was going to get the old one out and replaced.

At first I had hoped that I would be able to do a temporary patch to the rusted area and save a more permanent repair for when she is hauled in Ct after I get home.  However, what was a slow but steady drip became a gusher as I used a wire brush on the suspect area.  Here’s what the muffler, about 2’ long looked like when it was FINALLY removed from the boat.  Such is the life of “stainless” steel. It was in a very inaccessible spot and required some surgery and a good amount of cabinetry removal to coax it out.   As hard as it was, I was expecting that it would be much worse.  I am very glad that I am a “handy guy” as to pay someone for the whole job would have cost at least one “boat dollar” perhaps more.

As you get closer you can see the hole, a nasty gash about 2.5” wide.  Imagine what sort of mess this would have created, had it given way when we were at sea.  It would have been a bad day indeed.  Finding this leak that wasn’t clear at all unless you were really looking for problems, shows the value of a good surveyor.

Here’s the new muffler, made of fiberglass.  Note the sleek delivery vehicle.  I have made many runs to local stores with this great set of wheels.   It’s such fun to ride around on this with temperatures in the low 90s.   Happily, it’s now all set and things are back in order and it went back in a lot easier than the old one came out.  As near as I can tell, and I sure hope I can tell well,  that’s about the worst of it.

As I have mentioned, a big draw for us in wanting this boat, is the hard dodger to keep us comfortable and out of the weather when things get nasty.  How about the night lighting?  “Beam me up Scotty”.   I love it.Yesterday as I was doing some errands I happened on a farmer’s market at the Ft Pierce waterfront park. There weren’t a lot of farmers in evidence but there was one vendor selling carnivorous plants that he grows from seed.  I understand that, as they sit in 3” pots, they are about 4 years old.  That’s a long time to grow something that you sell for $10.   I hope that he has a day job too. 

This one is the well-known Venus Fly Trap.  Really neat.  How about the veining on this pitcher plant?   Love it.  For over 20 years we had a greenhouse at our home tried our hand at growing various pitcher plants.  However, they were the tropical variety and not these delicate more temperate varieties that require pure rain water to thrive.

So, with all of the paperwork scheduled to be sewn up today I will move Pandora over to another yard tomorrow for a few days to have davits put on to hoist the dink as well as to serve as a platform for more solar panels.  It’s our plan to put enough solar on board to make her as self sufficient at anchor as our last boat was.  The new logo will also be put on and the name, Ariel, will be taken off.

Crew arrives on Sunday and it is my hope that a good weather window will open up by mid week so that we can get going on our run north to CT.

It’s been a while since I posted a sunset shot as it’s hard to get one in a marina.  However, I was struck by how dramatic the clouds were last evening as a backdrop to all the masts in the marina.  Well, it’s certainly the beginning of a new era for us.  Let’s hope that it’s smooth sailing.  actually, Brenda’s counting on the “smooth sailing” part.  Wish us luck.

It’s Tuesday morning and it’s still dark out as I sit down to begin this post.  I seem to be waking early these days as there are so many details to be worked out prior to beginning our run north with our “new” Pandora. 

After a number of posts about what’s on the horizon with “new” it’s pretty clear that different names for the boats, beyond old and new, would certainly be easier.  However, I am not a particular fan of the designation of “1, 2 or heaven forbid 7” as a designation on how to keep track of the progression or yachts.  However, it would certainly be easier if our new “Pandora” was named something, well new, like “Fred”.  Then the distinction of which boat I am talking about would certainly be easier to follow.

So, for now, let’s try to just go with Pandora as the “boat of the moment”.  The “old” Pandora, well, I’ll just remain silent on that one for now.  Ok, here goes.

A boat like Pandora, an Aerodyne 47, is a much more complex than anything that we have ever owned and I have to say that it is going to be a while until I get used to that.  Right now, I am feeling pretty overwhelmed by all of the systems.  We have never had air conditioning on a boat and this one has two zones, one for the main cabin and a second for the master cabin.  That’s nice but it means that everything is duplicated. How do I reprogram the AIS?  It currently says “Ariel”.  I have no idea but am pretty sure that it involves my laptop.   And, the number of hoses and wires going every which way, is staggering.

As I mentioned in a prior post, the surveyor uncovered a few issues when he went over the boat but fortunately, none will be a particularly big deal.  The biggest one, that we found, and I am sure that the owner had no idea about this, had to do with a leaking muffler.  The surveyor pointed out a slow but consistent drip from the front of the muffler that didn’t look to bad.  However, when I “cleaned” up the area with a wire brush, the drip turned into a gusher as the hole gradually grew large enough to fit three fingers.    I expect that the owner had no idea of the problem as it was buried in an area that was very tough to see.

Some suggest that a boat should be professionally surveyed every 8-10 years and seeing the muffler problem has certainly convinced me that having someone go over things periodically is a very good idea.  It’s pretty clear that more time we spend with something, boat, house, car, the easier it is to overlook certain details that somehow blend into the woodwork over time.   However, had the rusted area in the muffler been missed and broken through…  Well, let’s just say that a LOT of water goes through a muffler.   No doubt, we’d be “dead in the water”  with an engine pumping hundreds of gallons of water per hour along with loads of hot and smoky exhaust.  And, just try getting into an inlet, against the tide, with no motor.  I don’t want to think about that.  Can you say
“Boat US unlimited towing”?  Check!

There are other minor issues that have cropped up like a small leak from the washer/dryer that I expect will be quite tough to fix, if it can be fixed at all, as the unit is shoehorned into the cabin.    And, there is a minor water leak, perhaps best called a “weep” in the water heater.  I suspect, or at least hope, that it’s around a fitting and not something more substantial.   However, over all, Pandora passed her survey with excellent marks.  In fact, at the end of the day I asked the surveyor, a very nice Australian guy, how this boat compared to the many others that he had reviewed over the years.  His answer, “one of the best I’ve seen”, and then he added, “and I have to admit that I am a bit jealous”.   As I was about to take a huge financial leap, that was good to hear.

However, as I struggled, over the last two days, to get a very recalcitrant muffler loose and out, I expect that there aren’t many that would envy me tackling that project.  Happily, the muffler is now out, with a bit of help from a $75/hr guy and an electric saw.   Well, “muffler woes”  should be behind me later today when I install the new one.  Let’s hope that assembly is easier than the demolition. Fingers crossed…  (Ever notice how often that phrase comes up in boat ownership?)   Yes, I am hoping to exclaim as I put on the last clamp, “now, wasn’t that easy?”   Wish me luck.

A few years  ago, I wrote about Tanya and Jay who live aboard their big cat, Take Two, with their 5, count them 5 children.   Well, they are here in the marina and tied up just behind me on the dock.  They are spending a few months here at the marina while Jay and the rest of the family do some work on their boat.  It has been fun to catch up with the “clan” and see how things are going.

I have talked about our plans to head to the Caribbean next winter and I understand that the Take Two gang will be going there as well.  However, their run will be for several years and will take them to South America, the western Caribbean and Panama prior to returning to the US.   I do hope that our paths cross again soon.

As Brenda has headed home to CT, I am alone aboard and anyone that knows me knows that I am not too big on the “alone thing”.    I was also thinking that it might be tough for Tanya and Jay to find someone to watch five kids so that they can get some alone time.  Yes, their oldest Ely, is old enough to watch the younger ones, but with me on the scene the parents could go a bit further afield and enjoy a night on the town “grownup style”.  Anyway, I offered to have the five kids over for a movie night on Sunday.  It was a real treat, let me tell you.

We watched a movie, one of only two that I have that are rated for a “G” audience.   I even provided chocolate candy that won rave reviews from all.   When I passed around the bowl of chocolates it was very cute as each carefully chose a single piece and passed the bowl.  Then one of them tentatively chirped, “can we have more than one?” “Yes,of course, eat as much as you want but not so much that you make yourself sick.  I don’t want your mom to be angry with me”.

They ate everything except the Almond Joy.  I guess that coconut wasn’t their favorite.   That’s good for me.

What a nice group of kids in rapt attention.The youngest, Rachel, born after they moved aboard, is getting big.  She still reminds me of Dr. Seuss’s, Cindy Lou Hoo.   Very cute.  I wrote about the Take Two gang back in 2012, when I last saw them.   A very nice family. 

One more thing before I break.  I saw this manatee sleeping near a boat the other evening.  There are several living in the area but this one should certainly be easy to spot with the “prop scars” on his back.  He’s nearly 10’ long.  Huge.  With all the boat traffic in their home waters, it’s remarkable that any survive. Well, I guess that’s about all I have today but there’s plenty to keep me occupied between now and Sunday when my crew arrives, to get the boat ready for the run north.  Let’s hope I can get everything done in time. 

Next, we’ll need a good weather window.

It’s Sunday morning and I am here in Ft Pierce aboard the “new” Pandora.  With “Pandora” up in New Bern and under the care of the broker, I have turned my attention to Pandora (soon to be renamed from Ariel) and getting her ready for the run north to begin around May 4^th or so.  With crew arriving on the 3^rd, I have about a week to get coast guard documentation, ownership fully transfered and become familiar with the boat prior to heading out. There are also some modifications and repairs needed to get everything in order.

The survey went quite well but a few items did show up that need attention.  In particular, the muffler, that was inexplicably made of aluminum, had corroded badly and was leaking.  Hoping that I could stabilize it so that I could make more permanent repairs when I got home, yesterday I set about opening things up to be able to get an epoxy patch in place.  However, as I went at it with a wire brush, the “hole” opened up to a thumb size and it was painfully clear that more major surgery is needed.  So, I had someone over to take a look and I’ll have a mechanic here on Monday morning to remove the old one.   Getting the old one loose is going to be a major exercise and will require some tools that I don’t have. However, putting the new one in should be pretty straight forward.   Let’s hope that this repair ends up being less than a “boat dollar”.  Fingers, and toes, crossed.

I am also having a set of davits put on as I want a way to get the dink out of the water and as an added bonus, I’ll then have a spot to put an additional 300 watts of solar, on top of the 340 watts it already has, which I hope will obviate the need to run my little Honda generator to keep the batteries up to snuff.   The boat has quite a large electrical load.  And, speaking of “boat dollars”, that will certainly add up to a few.

Another issue that came up was with the bottom paint.  The owner had been dutifully getting the bottom painted each year, having it sanded and a new coat of fresh paint applied.  However, as I had painfully discovered myself, too much buildup of an ablative bottom paint leads to adhesion problems as the paint gets thicker over the years.  After a while, the paint will peel badly and that’s exactly what it is doing here.  What is really needed is a full strip of the paint and a fresh start.

Oh well, I guess I should expect to have a lot of work to do in the first year.  Perhaps I’ll just haul it in CT and plan on devoting a bit of time to making it (mostly) right.  I don’t think I have the stamina to take all of the paint off this summer but certainly some touch up and fairing is in order.  Time to sweat, I guess.

I won’t think about that right now.  Perhaps better to focus on what works and to enjoy the view.  Happily, all of the stuff from “Pandora” was swallowed up handily aboard so it’s now fairly livable.  I think that there is perhaps three times the storage on this boat.  However, oddly, we seem to be short on coffee cups, as I can only find three.  Good thing there will only be three aboard for the run north.  As the owner left all of their dishes and anything that was color-coordinated with the boat (can you say green?), we now have all of their dishes as well as those that we moved and let me tell, you there are a lot of dishes.

Happily, everything is now stowed (I expect that Brenda will have something to say about what I put where…) and I can enjoy the view.

Indulge me while I provide a tour of the boat…

Here’s the main salon looking forward.  It’s cavernous compared to our last boat as she is 14.5′ wide verses 12 for “Pandora”.  You wouldn’t think that the extra 2.5′ would make that much difference, but it does. The same view looking aft.There’s a very nice nav station with a proper seat that swings out.    And, there is even room for my sideband radio.The galley is really nice with granite counter tops.  Interestingly, they are granite
“veneer” over a honeycomb base, the sort used on luxury aircraft and they are very light weight.  Notice the washer in back.  I think it can be used with the inverter for washing but certainly not for drying when we aren’t on shore power as the house batteries total over 100 AH.   Brenda’s pretty excited about that, the washer, not the batteries, that is.  The aft cabin is at the bottom of the companionway to starboard.  Here’s the entrance to the cabin.The aft cabin is quite large and has loads of storage under the bunk as well as drawers and a generous hanging locker, one of five on board.  “Pandora” had only one.The forward cabin, the one that Brenda and I will use, has loads of storage and the bunk is a bit larger.  And, believe it or not, there is even a small workshop that has storage to swallow up a huge amount of stuff.  The owner was fastidious about keeping spares on board and there appears to be a backup for nearly every pump etc, aboard. That’s encouraging.  Yesterday I went through everything to get a feel for what was there.  The amount of stuff is a bit overwhelming but will certainly come in handy at some point.  Alas, no spare muffler…And, last but not least, the hard dodger is wonderful and long enough to lay down out of the weather.   It’s a great spot to tuck up in when the going gets rough.  There’s even a remote plotter so you don’t have to stand at the helm to monitor where you are and a remote for the autopilot.  There are instruments for everything at the helm and repeater instruments under the dodger, at the nav station and there’s even a repeater in the master cabin.  I can’t imagine the complexity of all of this.

I guess it’s a good thing that I have a week to sort through everything as I am going to need every moment to get a handle on all of the systems.

Well, the real fun will begin on Monday when we wrestle the old muffler out and order a new one.  Let’s hope that this is the worst “wart” what I discover as I become familiar with the systems. I am certainly happy to be following a fastidious owner who did his best to keep things in proper order.

So far, so good.  Let’s hope that not too many “boat dollars” flush out prior to leaving.   So far, so good.  However, it is a boat… 

It’s Thursday night and it’s been a while since I have posted.  Since we left Pandora in New Bern, we have driven from NC all the way to central FL and the “new” Pandora.

Brenda flew out this morning and I FINALLY was able to return the rental car that we have driven around for nearly two weeks.   We were both getting sick of driving around in an overstuffed van.  Brenda was so pleased to be able to step aside from the OVERPACKED van after so many miles traveled.

Poor Brenda had to ride in the back seat for a good portion of the run south because, our son Christopher, who’s pretty susceptible to motion sickness, opted to ride up front.   We “carved” a small spot out in the back for Brenda.  Pretty tight but she was a good sport.  At least the boat hook was in place to keep her from falling out if the door was opened. Yesterday we had the survey on “new Pandora” and the owner, even though I have not transferred all of the funds, agreed that I could move aboard and begin to get ready for the run north.  My crew, Jim and Michael are due to arrive on Sunday the 3rd. 

Yesterday was really long with the surveyor on board for nearly the entire day.  Following the successful survey and my signing of the acceptance document, Brenda and I shared some champagne with the seller to toast the successful completion of the deal.   As it took since late December to bring everything together it did feel sort of like a “what took so long” moment but it was also pretty exciting to have it done, at long last.

She was hauled briefly to inspect the bottom.   Nice bulb keel.  You can see how she would be so fast.  Interestingly, the bulb is lead but the keel itself is composite carbon fiber construction.  Very strong and it gets the “righting moment” down low. Nothing particularly traditional about her.  Very modern. I am particularly enamored with the retractable bow thruster to help maneuver in tight places.  And, with nearly 50′ of boat length, EVERYWHERE is tight.   It’s pretty neat.  When deployed it’s in clear water but when retracted, flush with the hull so there is no drag.  After the survey, and a toast with our friends and sellers, we began to move everything out of the van and aboard.  Whew, I was bushed.Actually, even before handing all the stuff down to the deck I had had enough.   Did I mention that I turn 60 in June?  How pathetic. I made a little progress today but expect that it will take the better part of a week to get all the stuff unpacked and stowed aboard.   What a mess.   About 2/3 of the stuff fit in the aft cabin, about as large as all of Pandora.  The salon not looking to “salon like”.  However, she looks pretty nice at the dock.  And, I just love the hard dodger that’s long enough to sleep under, out of the weather. Thank goodness that she has two zone AC as it’s in the high 80s during the day here.   However, we have to manage the energy use as the 30amp service isn’t good enough to run both zones as well as the washer dryer.  Feel sorry for me?  I didn’t think so.

Well, I guess that’s about enough for now as it’s getting late and there’s a t0n of unpacking on the horizon tomorrow.   So, here’s looking forward to selling Pandora and getting “Pandora” underway and north to CT in a few weeks.

It’s Saturday morning and we are in Columbia SC for a wedding of the son of an old friend.  It will be a lovely day and how convenient to have headed south from New Bern, where we finished “re-formating” Pandora so she can be sold.  After this weekend we will head to Ft Pierce for the survey and delivery of our “new” Pandora, currently Ariel, the Aerodyne 47 that we are purchasing next week.  As much of the survey work has already been done, I am pretty confident that all will go smoothly, and the purchase will be finalized as planned.

Anyway, as I write this I can’t believe that Pandora is all cleaned up and ready to sell.  Well, she’s as ready as she will be.  All we need now is a buyer.  ALL?   Yes, that’s a big ALL.

This is a photo of me standing next to the clean Pandora after nearly a week of packing and scrubbing. Wasn’t that easy?  NOT!!!   The process felt more like this…It is remarkable what can accumulate on board a boat over 7 years. Canned goods, soup…I can’t tell you how much soup I found.   Spare parts.  This is a shot of just some of the stuff that I had packed away for a rainy day.   Yes, it was nearly this bad.  And, it wasn’t that well organized.  Well, at least it didn’t feel organized when we started digging in.  We needed a LOT of boxes.   It was chaotic.   And we had to, sort of, clean up each evening as we were staying on the boat.

Well, I won’t go on about this for too long “Bob, it’s already been too long” but it was a very tough week and when we were done Brenda said, and I quote,  “I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN!” and she really said it in ALL CAPS.

Anyway, Pandora looks pretty clean and even I think that she is up the “Bob’s proper anal standards”.

A few glamour shots of the interior. Now, wasn’t that easy?  “So, where did all that stuff go Bob?”

Well, some went to Jim’s home in Williamsburg VA but the rest, well most of it, went into a rented van.  Big pile…And that was only the first time I put everything in the van only to take EVERYTHING out and try again, this time more carefully.  However, in the end.  Most of it fit with the “extra” items going to the broker’s garage to be picked up at a later date.

Finally, packed.Not an inch of space to spare.Not so easy, not at all.  And certainly tougher than I had expected but Pandora is now “reformated” back to factory specs and ready for her new owner.

Oh yeah, about that bag of catfood that we “lost” aboard for the last few years.  The one I put on board to feed reef fish in the Bahamas.  Nope never found it.

Now we get to drive around in a packed van for a week till we get to FL and the NEW PANDORA.  We are excited…

It’s Monday morning and Pandora’s secure on the dock in New Bern NC at the New Bern Grand marina.  It’s hard to believe that we are here after months of saying “we are headed to New Bern…”Well, we’re here, on the dock and it’s time to act.  So, yesterday we began what will take us much of the rest of the week, the unraveling of 8 years of our life aboard Pandora.  It’s hard to believe that after all this time we are finally doing it.  We are selling Pandora.  

However, all is not lost as we will, in less than two weeks, be taking delivery on the “new” Pandora, the Aerodyne 47 that I have written about in past posts.   I won’t belabor this except to if you have somehow missed my incessant ramblings on the subject, you can see a post that I did a while back about the new boat.

I can’t recall if I already posted this photo, but the boat, now Ariel, soon to be Pandora, was photographed in the Bahamas a few weeks ago by a friend.  We made great progress yesterday as we began removing personal items and a lot of “stuff” that has accumulated over the years.  We have not yet gotten to some of the areas that are really deeply buried and I expect that we will find some surprises.  I am fearful that I will finally locate the bag of dry cat food we brought aboard three years ago to feed tropical fish in the Bahamas.  I have searched and searched and have never been able to locate it.  Here fishy fishy…

It’s going to take lots of boxes to get all the stuff into our rental car so we made a run to to pick up some up at the local liquor store.  We thought that we had plenty.  Not even close .  Now things weren’t quite as neat and tidy as is normally the case aboard Pandora. The aft cabin has really gotten out of control.  While I consider myself to a pretty tidy guy, Brenda disagrees and has labeled me a “closet messy”.  Perhaps the aft cabin is often a bit cluttered but this is over the top.   And, that’s not even the half of it. A small amount, so far, spilled out onto the dock.  Off to the van we rented.  And, this is only the beginning.  Hope it all fits.After a long day of unpacking and cleaning we decided to take a walk in New Bern last evening.  What a beautiful city.  This is the city hall building and it’s still in use.  Great brick work. We also visited a local landmark, Tryon Palace once the home to the Colonial Governor prior to the revolution.   What a spot. It was the first constructed in 1770 but was destroyed by fire less than 20 years later.  A major fund raising initiative was conducted in New Bern and the grounds and buildings were rebuilt in the 1950s.  The locals are quite proud of this museum and work hard to keep everything in top shape.  The compound has some terrific buildings.  This is a favorite spot for weddings and we had to work hard to stay out of the way of three, count em three, brides having pictures taken.   The azaleas are in full bloom as is much everything else.   The Pollen count is sky high.  It’s on everything, coating yellow everywhere including my nose. Yuck…The gardens are spectacular.  How about a espaliered apple tree. 

They must have someone on staff that loves trimming hedges as they are everywhere and in perfect shape.
The gardens go on and on…  At home gardens are my problem.  “Bob, wouldn’t it be great if we had a garden here?  Grass is just so boring.”   No, I’ll just stand and enjoy someone else’s work right now. Fig trees.  Bummer that the fruit wasn’t ripe.  I’d have been tempted to snag a sample.  After garden overload we walked around town.  Brenda loved this rose bush.Wisteria is growing everywhere along the roadside.  However, it’s at it’s best when someone keeps tab on things like on this arbor. Well, enough about fun, all this blogging isn’t getting Pandora unraveled.   I guess I need coffee to face that.