Getting to Know Sweet Escape

Originally Posted at www.svsweetescape.com

With Sweet Escape almost empty it was a great time to clean her.  Who would have thought that in the simple task of cleaning you could learn so much.  

First off, unfortunately our weather has turned decidedly seasonal in April after a very warm stretch of days in March.  Seasonal in Wisconsin in April means cold.  No problem - turn on the heat  which thankfully works great. 

Nothing decreases stress like a good session of vacuuming.  Of course, on a boat, you need power at the outlet before you can begin.  Next, of course you need water to clean and that means making sure that the water is turned on and that the outlet seacocks are open. Is the water pump making the proper noise?  

Okay we have water that’s not turning to ice, so it’s time for some cleaning but what products to use? Drano is definitely a no no.  Liquid gold is good, Fantastic really is not that fantastic but it’s okay.  As one cleans, you can’t help but notice things.  Oh no, is that a crack?  Wait, no it’s just some dirt that is easily wiped up with some elbow grease.  After hours of cleaning  even though I’m tired and sore, I can’t help but feel happy. Sweet Escape feels more like ours and she does clean up pretty nicely too. 

We were even able to have guests which was a lot of fun.

Next up, continue to make Sweet Escape our home which means throwing junk out and buying new stuff. 

Time to go shopping.

Well, The Fridge Works

Yesterday was a big day.  We re-commissioned our fresh water system and started our refrigerator and freezer for the first time. (More on that later)  Why is that big you ask?

Well, boat plumbing is notoriously problematic.  We have 125 gallons of fresh water capacity on board but had no idea how much was actually in the tanks because our tank level monitor is out for repair.  We also had no idea what condition the tanks or the water in them would be in.

Brian filled both tanks and then flipped the water pump switch on the 12 volt electrical panel.  The pump came to life and started pumping...and pumping...and...pumping.  We heard the bilge pump go on and upon inspection noted that the water level in the bilge was rising.  Not good.  He also noted that there was water coming out of one of the two forward port side vents.  Water pump switch off, time to consult the manual and schematic of the water system that came supplied with the boat.

The vent that was leaking water is the water heater vent.  Okay, lets look at the water heater - and there it was.  Brian had forgotten to close the water heater’s pressure relief valve and water was spraying all over under the settee where the water heater is located and running into the bilge.

Fingers crossed we try again and it works.  No water going into the bilge and nothing coming out of the exterior vents.  Success.

And, most importantly we have water at all the sinks and showers.  The quality of the water is not bad.  It has a detectable slight chlorine and anti-freeze odor from winterization but that will go away over time and use.

The other achievements were the rigging of our dinghy davits and turning on our fridge and freezer.  Both of which are 12 volt units.  We filled the refrigerator with a case of bottled water and a twelve pack of Diet Coke and following the “more is better” rule, turned both on full blast before leaving for the night.

This morning, upon arrival aboard Sweet Escape Brian found that, you guessed it, the fridge works better than we expected and froze the Diet Coke, causing two of the cans to explode.  This caused a full bowl of Arm and Hammer baking soda which had been placed in the unit by the previous owner to overturn, it’s contents flung all over.  Mixed with the soda, the baking soda tuned into an icy brown sludge which coated much of the interior of the fridge.

Oh well, at least it works.

Sea Trial and Closing

Originally Posted at www.svsweetescape.com

This afternoon was our sea trial after which we closed on our boat.  Sweet Escape now belongs to us.

We were able to catch the 1:40 P.M. Main Street bridge opening and with Racine Riverside’s Brad at the helm and broker Steve aboard we motored down the Root River headed for Lake Michigan.

It was a sunny, crystal clear day with northeast winds 12-14 knots. It was cold, only in the 40’s but we both had an opportunity at the helm and she handles great.  This boat tracks as straight as an arrow and rode solidly in the two foot seas we found on the lake.

It is apparent that docking and undocking Sweet Escape is going to be an adventure.  On the way out the strong up river current grabbed her and pulled her out of the slip before Steve could even climb aboard forcing Brad to return to the dock and pick him up.  Docking after the sea trial was similarly exciting, requiring two people ashore to help catch us.  This is a large complex vessel and we can’t wait to get started sailing her.

The sea trial revealed three issues that will require further investigation.  First, the engine ran hotter than I would have liked.  Not overheating hot, but hotter than it should be considering it is sucking in 48 degree lake water.  Upon inspection some small plastic debris from the river was found in the engine sea strainer.  Service manager Marc of Racine Riverside felt that this could be the reason.  There is a problem with the helm chart plotter that they are going to troubleshoot and likewise they will investigate the reason why the fuel tank is reading empty when it is full.

By agreement of all parties, $2000 will be placed in escrow until these three issues are resolved and on that basis, following the sea trial, the papers were signed and taken to FedEx for a Tuesday morning delivery to the lender.  We expect the funds to be transferred and the transaction completed on Wednesday. 

See our gallery for a few photos from Monday’s sea trial.

We’re boat owners again! 

Keeping Our Eyes on the Ball

Originally Posted at www.svsweetescape.com

We have begun the process of down-sizing our belongings, a process that must result in reducing possessions acquired over a lifetime down to what will fit comfortably aboard a 44 foot sailboat.

We have read a lot written by other cruisers on this subject and so we were prepared for it to be difficult.  Just how difficult is starting to become clear.  “Its just stuff” is the mantra but the reality of giving away furniture, art and other items that hold meaning for us is tough.  It helps somewhat that we’re giving these things to our kids but even with that the act of doing so carries a certain finality to it that is weirdly uncomfortable.

Part of this is the fact that we have not yet closed on Sweet Escape and that while we fully expect to do so in the next few weeks, the boat is not yet ours.  It would help if that side of the equation was complete and we could begin moving things aboard to begin the process of transforming the boat into our home.  Now, even though work on the boat is progressing, we feel like we are in a holding pattern. 

Daughter Erin will be here tomorrow with a trailer to relieve us of our dining table, china cabinet and a desk top computer.  Later, daughter Jennifer will take our bedroom furniture along with the contents of our living room.  There is a lot more that we’ll have to figure out later.  For now, we just have to keep our eyes on the ball.

Today, Brian completed and mailed his pension application confirming his July 1st retirement date.  Judy will leave her job on June 26th.  Weather permitting, this should provide us with a solid month of sailing Sweet Escape every day in preparation for our departure in early August.  Of course we expect to get some sailing in before July 1st but it will be more difficult with our jobs in the way.

Marine Survey and Other Progress

Originally Posted at www.svsweetescape.com

An important step in the purchase of a boat is the marine survey.  This would be like a combination house inspection/appraisal if one were buying real estate.  The surveyor goes through every aspect of the boat checking structure and systems.  Structure is checked with a moisture meter and by sounding with a phenolic hammer.  Systems are checked visually and by powering them on wherever possible.  

The surveyor evaluates the boat and then completes a lengthy report listing any problems that were found, the surveyor’s opinion of the vessel’s overall condition and what he/she believes the replacement cost and fair market value to be.  Lenders and insurance companies will often require a survey in order to establish loan and replacement value, although this is not the case with us.  We chose to have the survey done for peace of mind and to insure that the vessel is sound and to discover any (potentially costly) hidden issues.

There is a professional organization of marine surveyors that handles training and accreditation - The Society of Marine Surveyors or SAM.  A good place to begin in the selection of a surveyor is the SAM website.  We consulted this website and found Marian Lambrecht of Schuss Marine in Chicago.  She is pictured above.

Marian, in addition to being an accredited marine surveyor is also a licensed captain who performs deliveries and yacht instruction.  It was the yacht instruction aspect of her services that really piqued our interest.  If you will recall from an earlier post, there was a moment of terror once it became clear that we had contracted to purchase a sailboat that to us seemed to be as big and complex as the Queen Mary.  Because we are unfamiliar with this boat and her many systems and due to her size we think it is just common sense that we would spend some time aboard with someone who could help us to become better acquainted.

So it was that we made contact with Marian Lambrecht.  We found her to be very accommodating and willing to do both our survey and then provide a day or two of instruction aboard later when the boat goes into the water.

The survey was scheduled for this past Wednesday March 14th.  We met Marian at the boat at Racine Riverside at 4:00 P.M.  She had been there since 10:00 A.M.  Marian pointed out a few minor issues but overall rated Sweet Escape in “above average” condition.  Great news...and we look forward to working with Marian as we get closer to actually putting her into the water (Sweet Escape, not Marian) and getting to know our new floating home.

And speaking of getting in the water - we now have a slip!  This morning, after dodging the Racine St. Patrick’s Day parade, we met with Pugh Marine in Racine and reserved a slip through August 1st for Sweet Escape.  This is a slip in a busy section of the Root River but also in a very wide part of the river which will be an advantage for us and provide a much larger margin for error as we become more familiar with maneuvering the boat under power.  Plus, the slip is east of the Main Street Bridge so we’ll no longer have to sync our comings and goings with the bridge openings every 20 minutes.  This was a pain last year on Integrity.

In other news, today we met with Racine Riverside’s service manager regarding some work that must be done and other work that we’re considering having done.  Under the heading of what must be done is the installation of a new genset.  You will recall that this was a condition of our offer and we cannot close until this work is done.  Riverside happens to have in stock, a brand new Fischer Panda 6.5Kw generator that they have agreed to install on Sweet Escape in the next two weeks.  Once the genset is installed we can schedule a sea trial and then finally close and the boat will be ours.  

Other work that must be done is the removal of the existing VC17 bottom paint and the application of multiple barrier coats followed by the application of three coats of a bottom paint suitable for a saltwater environment.  We have decided to put off the bottom paint until at least June.  This will give us time to become somewhat familiar with the sailboat and will allow us time to decide whether or not we will need to have a bow thruster installed - a very costly upgrade, but one that might be prudent given the size of the vessel.  It is our intent to sail Sweet Escape short handed most of the time with just the two of us aboard and at 44 feet long, almost 15 feet wide and weighing in at a hefty 23,000 lbs, docking and undocking can quickly provide much more excitement than either of us desire.

If we determine that a bow thruster will be necessary we’ll have that work done in June when we have the boat hauled out for bottom painting.

All in all St. Paddy’s day was very productive. 

An Unexpected Getaway

Originally Posted at www.svsweetescape.com

We have been paying attention to the boat market for a long time in anticipation of buying the boat that we would ultimately retire on.  Of course, before we could do that there were obstacles to overcome, not the least of which was the sale of our beautiful home in Pleasant Prairie near the bottom of a depressed real estate market.  We were lucky to be able to find a buyer and sell the house last July after ten months on the market and a lot of price reductions.

Since then we have continued to watch the sailboat market with the intention of purchasing a boat this spring (2012).  After a lot of looking, we  decided to purchase a 40+ foot Hunter sailboat that was built in the late 90’s or early 2000’s.  It seems to us that with these vessels you get a lot for your money.  Decent build quality, great brand name gear like Yanmar, Harken, Selden and Lewmar and huge interior volume which is important to a live aboard.  We had focused in on the Hunter 41 or the older Hunter 410.  There were many available on the market at very good prices.  It seems that real estate is not the only down market these days - thankfully for us.

A few miles north of where we live is a Hunter dealer.  Racine Riverside Marine in Racine Wisconsin.  We had become acquainted with a boat broker there a few years ago and understanding our timeline and situation he stayed in touch with us, calling every six months or so to update us on a new boat he had in brokerage or just to touch base on our plans and progress.

We also kept our former boat, an O’Day 27 named Integrity at Riverside last season after moving the boat from Muskegon Michigan where we originally purchased it a few years ago.

Riverside had a 1998 Hunter 410 in brokerage that we had been interested in for a while and we made arrangements to see the boat in early February after having run into our boat broker at the Strictly Sail Chicago boat show.

We liked the price of this boat.  One of our requirements for any boat we would buy would be that it must either already have or if not, we would be able to add a diesel generator.  This particular boat did not have a genset but it’s price would allow us to easily add one.

When we looked at this boat we were disappointed.  There was some evidence of deck leaks and the general condition of the boat struck us as below average.  While we were at the boat yard, in a snowstorm I might add, broker Steve insisted that we look at another boat that he had in brokerage.  This was a 44 foot 2003 Hunter 426 named Festina Tarde.  We had been aware of this boat and knew that it was priced well above our price range.

Since we were there, and never ones to turn down the opportunity to get on board any sailboat, we looked at the 426 and she was truly beautiful even in the gloom of the mini blizzard that was ongoing, her polished stainless steel fittings gleamed. She appeared to have been well taken care of, had only 300 hours on the Yanmar diesel, in mast furling and almost everything else we wanted except the aforementioned required genset.  But alas, it was not to be as the price was well above what we could comfortably spend plus there would be a generator to pay for as well.

That night we decided we would have to travel to find the boat of our dreams.  For sometime we had been aware of a 2003 Hunter 426 for sale in New Smyrna Beach Florida.  After having seen the 426 in Racine we decided to go to Florida to look at this boat.  We booked flights and three hotel nights and developed a plan to see that boat along with two others in Southwest Florida over a two day period.  This was going to be a challenge but we made arrangements with the Florida boat broker to see the 426 and started working on contacting the two other brokers to do the same.

Two days later, while at work Brian received a call from broker Steve at Racine Riverside.  Steve said that the owner of the Hunter 426DS, Festina Tarde was highly motivated and that he believed that we could buy that boat and have a new genset installed at a number that was right at the very top of our price range.  Brian told Steve that we would think about it.

That night we talked it over, and determined that if it was possible to buy the 426 at that price including a new generator, that we would be getting a very good deal so we decided to make an offer on the Hunter 426 DS Festina Tarde at Racine Riverside.  We delivered the offer the next morning and waited.  The following afternoon Brian received a phone call at work from Steve informing us that our offer had been accepted.  

The emotions came fast and furious, first joy and excitement and then terror “wow”, this was more boat than either of us ever thought we would own and certainly more boat than either of us had ever handled or sailed before.  The majority of our boating and sailing experience was aboard our 27 foot O’Day, Integrity, a sweet but very basic boat and compared to the vessel we had just contracted to purchase; as different as night and ... o’day.  Getting to know this boat in time to take it cruising will be a challenge but hey, we’ve got all summer and someone has to do it.

So that gets us back to the title of this post, An Unexpected Getaway.  If you will recall we booked a trip to Florida to go boat shopping which was no longer necessary but of course had been fully paid for and was not refundable.  So, we decided to go anyway and spent 2 1/2 days in the Orlando/Tampa areas.  Despite a flight from hell on the way down, an encounter with a maniacal homeless guy on a bicycle and cooler than normal Florida weather, a nice time was had by all.  

We will post some photos in our gallery from this trip.

We Have a Boat

Originally Posted at www.svsweetescape.com

Welcome to our first blog post.  We’ll do whatever we can to keep future posts light and interesting as we report our location, progress and whatever else is happening with us.

So, as the title of this post suggests we have finally found our boat.  She is a Hunter 426DS built in 2003.  The boat’s name is currently Festina Tarde.  We will change the name to Sweet Escape this spring.  It is interesting that despite the fact that we have been using the Internet to search nationwide for the boat of our dreams, we ended up finding her only 13 miles from where we live in Wisconsin along the shore of beautiful but cold Lake Michigan.  While there is a temptation to read more into this fact, lets just say that we appreciate the convenience of having the boat so close as we prepare to leave on our cruise this summer.

We will post more on the offer and purchase of the boat in a future entry.  For now, we have an accepted offer, a survey scheduled for March 14th with a Chicago based marine surveyor who will also work with us later to become familiar with the operation of this boat and all her systems.Following an acceptable survey, we will need to arrange a sea trial.  We expect that to take place sometime in late March or early April and we will report on it when it does.  Following the sea trial, assuming it goes well, and installation of a diesel generator, we will move to close on the boat.