Saturday, February 19, 2011

And the survey said...

...that this 42 foot Tartan is a perfect boat, that she suffers not a blemish or a spot. In fact she is the dream boat every sailor hopes to someday take to sea, that only an extraordinary stroke of luck could have brought us to gaze upon her decks, that we would be getting the deal of the century at ten times the price.

Well, actually, it didn't say anything like that at all. We don't have the official copy yet, but we did get a courtesy call from the Ex-Navy Commander. There are a few items that will need addressed before her hull gets wet, minor stuff and some of it spotted when we first looked at the boat. There are a host of other items as well, also expected. It is, after all, a 30 year old boat. There will be projects. There are always projects. If I believed in an afterlife I would think the first thing they hand you at the pearly gate is a "to-do" list.

Getting my head around the Tartan as The Boat has been a bit of a trip. Say "sailboat" and everyone sees a mental picture, some Platonic form from which all sailboats draw their essence. For me that boat looks very much like the Tartan, beamy, with a low coach roof, a narrow stern, and smallish cockpit with the helm well aft. For a bit I wondered if the Tartan was the "second choice," that we were being forced to give up on a catamaran just because of price. But I realized I like the idea of going down the companionway rather than through sliding glass doors. That I like the idea of a cockpit more than a back porch. One of the things I love about Nomad is that, whenever I climb aboard and pass below, I know I am on a sailboat. At least to start out I want to live on a boat-boat, not something that reminds me of an apartment. If manna fell from heaven in the form of a big stack of green-backs we would probably look at a much newer boat, even (should it be a BIG stack of green-backs) a new boat. But I think, now that the decision has been made, that it would still be a single hull and beamy. (Though I'm still kind of fond of the Jeanneau cockpit with her dual helms.)

A catamaran was "a" choice. It might even be "the" choice we make in the future. But it is not the choice for now, and I'm pretty happy about that. The boat in my head will soon be the boat under my feet. I'm glad to be bringing her to the lake were we can learn each other's ways, and of leaving on our boat when we are ready.


 

This has been a really good day.

5 comments:

TaylorMad1 said...

tell Santa you want a feathering prop for Christmas, I was just looking at the ad on Yacht world you are getting a lot of boat for the money, I would trade my 2003 Hunter 356 anyday.

TJ said...

The feathering prop might have to wait for next Christmas...seeing as Santa is bringing me a Tartan this year, and with it the bill. We need something to slow us down a bit on our tiny lake anyway. But a feathing prop is definately on the "do-it-before-we-splash-in-salt-water" list.

S/V Veranda said...

Congratulations on a huge step forward....

Deb said...

Thanks but I'm still holding my breath until the financing is complete and the boat is in the water!

EP said...

That's no boat - that's a YACHT. A big Tartan, quite impressive. How's she sail?

Good thing you went with a monohull, heeling keeps the ab muscles in shape, and all those catamaran owners only look tanned and beautiful the first 6 months, after that they become weak, ginny, and hardly able to tie a bowline anymore.

At least that's the story I am going to tell myself