Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Over the Edge

It was a beautiful spring day in Washington yesterday. Late afternoon, the four of us walked out of a bank downtown, having just closed on a second mortgage on the house and I said to Windy: “We can stop all of this nonsense now and continue living in our home and enjoying our lives as they are, and we’ve lost nothing, only the $99 closing fee we just paid.” The thought rang hollow for both of us and reaffirmed our drive to move forward with our Plan.

You see, we’ve arrived at the precipice. For all our talk and planning of the past four years, nothing has been set in stone. To extend the metaphor, no stone has been cast…until yesterday, until we handed over that $99, the first real payment towards the lives we envision. But paying the $99 was like stepping off a curb. The precipice is represented by the much larger sums to come.

We’ve decided to make an offer on the Fuji 40. If our offer is accepted, we will soon send $500 to Doug Danielson the surveyor and $500 to Opequimar the boatyard. Another step forward means $350 to Doug Danielson the rigging surveyor, $300 to the engine surveyor, a five-digit sum to the boat owners, and $800 to the slip owner, something to a boat minder, something to the US Coast Guard, something to the Mexican insurance company, and so on. At that point, our commitment is no stronger than it is today, but certainly more tangible…and that just makes it all the more exciting.

But I left out an expense. We’ve gone back and forth about whether or not to incur the expense and disruption of a trip to PV to see and sail the boat in person. We’ve gone back and forth about who would go if we did go. Ultimately—and I lost this battle—we decided we would go and the “we” is Eleanor and me. In the end, it was our consideration for E that made everything clear. Eleanor’s sensitivity is a characteristic masked by her tough and old-soul nature. There is no question that leaving this life, transitioning to a radically new one, will be hardest on her. When the time comes, Frances may bemoan the changes loudly, but Eleanor will experience them, and hurt from them, most profoundly. The loss of friends, loss of stuff, and loss of place will not be a party for her. Because of this, we have talked often and at length about our plans around the dinner table and in the car. We have watched multiple crude documentaries made by other cruising families. We have successfully socialized our plan to the extent that both girls are perfectly aware that we are moving onto a boat. Both girls ask questions about it. But while it is, and will remain, an abstraction for Frances, it is real for Eleanor. She is already expressing her anxiety.

A trip to PV will clarify things for her by helping her to further contextualize the idea. While we’ve been aboard several boats with the girls, it will allow her to form her own real judgment about a specific boat in a specific place. It will allow her to be a part of the process and to feel a pride in being the one to report her opinions and findings from the trip back to Windy and Frances. It will not alleviate the difficulty the transition will represent for her, but hopefully, it will help this dream of ours to become Eleanor’s dream.

And it will be a fun—but costly—father-daughter experience.

Precipice, here we come.

--MR

Sunday, April 25, 2010

The Next Del Viento?

Pictures from the Yacht World listing. She seems to be in decent shape. Lots of equipment. Great layout for a family living aboard. If we decide to make an offer, and it is accepted, the next step is to have her surveyed. --WR












































Fuji 40 Specs

The specs for the boat we are currently considering. It's in a marina in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

From the drawing boards of the prestigious firm of Sparkman & Stephens, we are pleased to offer this very nice pedigreed cruiser. It is a performance oriented blue water boat with an exquisite interior. Just checked in after two years of cruising the west coast, now this beautiful and well found cruiser is ready to go again with her next skipper.

Additional Specs, Equipment and Information:

Specs
Builder: Fuji
Designer: Sparkman & Stephens

Dimensions
LOA: 39'2"
Beam: 12'8"
LWL: 30
Maximum Draft: 6'
Displacement: 27065
Ballast: 8000

Engines
Engine Brand: Yanmar
Engine(s) HP: 55
Engine Model: 4JH-TE
Cruising Speed: 6.5
Maximum Speed: 8
Engine Hours: 2240

Tanks
Fuel Tanks: 50
Water: 100
Holding Tanks: 25

Accommodations
The owners have been cruising this performance oriented blue water cruiser in the Sea of Cortez and the west coast of Mexico for the last two years. Now they've fallen in love with the Puerto Vallarta area and have bought a home, so they have reluctantly directed us to price her to sell.

From your first steps aboard, you notice the architectural details that only come off of the drawing boards of master naval architects like Sparkman & Stephens. The exterior belies how much room and how much storage there is on this lovely boat. With over $30,000 in upgrades and maintenance in the last two years, she is ready to take off again and cruise the world.

From the forward stateroom there is a large v-berth with plenty of storage below and outboard. Aft and starboard is the head with shower. Aft is the salon with settees port and starboard and a large drop-leaf table with storage that seats 6 comfortably. Aft and to port is the large galley with many handcrafted drawers, plate storage, double stainless sink, propane stove & oven. across from the galley is the comfortable nav station with storage forward. Aft of the nav station is the companionway to the large aft master with a settee, quarter berth to stbd and double berth to port. Considerable storage drawers and lockers throughout.

Galley
•3 burner gas stove & oven
•double stainless sink (new faucet)
•refrigerator / freezer (new compressor)
•Microwave oven
•Dishes

Electronics
•Raymarine (type 2) Autopilot (new)
•SSB radio
•Icom VHF radio with new antennae
•depth, speed & wind instruments at helm
•2 Garmin GPS units
•Hand held compass
•Raytheon RADAR
•Kenwood Stereo with 6 speakers

Electrical
•Xantrex 2000 watt inverter (new)
•2) shore power cords

Sail
•120% Genoa (inspected and repaired 2009)
•Forspar boom vang (new 07)
•New Harken traveler
•New Profurl for genoa
•Sail-O-Mat wind vane
•Mini sail (stabilizer)
•storm jib
•tri-sail

Deck
•polished stainless davits & hoist system for outboard dinghy motor
•complete cockpit cushions (new covers)
•New stainless rails around cockpit
•Electric windlass
•30kg Bruce anchor with 300' of chain
•2 inflatable Seyvlor 2 person kayaks with paddles (one missing rudder)
•6 fenders
•BBQ grill
•New lifelines
•7 fuel & water gerry cans
•fish table
•emergency tiller
•spare 44lb delta anchor

Mechanical
•turbo charged Yanmar 55 hp diesel (new injection pump)
•New sanitation hoses
•Maxprop
•New water accumulator tank
•New stainless steel water tanks
•water filtration system
•35 lb danforth stern anchor with rode
•para storm anchor
•New wiring in mast
•new stainless mast step

Safety Equipment
•EPIRB
•6 person liferaft
•3 fire extinguisers
•life jackets
•CO2 detector
•2 smoke detectors

Exclusions
•Mercury 11 foot tender (new 07) & Tohatsu 9.9 hp motor (new 07) (with: dinghy cover, oars, gas tank,
•ladder, small Danforth dinghy anchor. All may be negotiable)
•personal items (including linens & books)
•vacuum
•sirius radio
•TV
•cookware & glasses
•rice cooker, toaster, coffee maker, blender, mixer
•wetsuits, PFDs, spear guns, fishing gear, snorkeling gear
•hose & nozzle
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