Buying a Boat, Delivering a Cat

Thanksgiving this year was significant; we put in an offer on a boat that we are seriously interested in, and it was accepted - right before we sat down for Thanksgiving dinner at my (Kevin’s) father’s house!

Not a terrible way to spend the holiday, really. We’ll share more as we get closer to the closing (targeting January), as the dance of surveyors, insurers, and sea trials remains before we can call her our own. That said, we’re (cautiously) excited.

For the next couple of weeks, I will be at sea, sort of. I was asked by a captain friend, who originally taught me to sail, to join him on a catamaran delivery from Annapolis to Fort Lauderdale. I’m writing this over a beer at Logan Airport, preparing to board a flight to DC in just under an hour. My sea bag is checked, hopefully to arrive without fault; I spent last night, post-family and turkey, packing my foul weather gear, PFD, harness, clothing to protect me from freezing cold to Florida-warm weather, and various tools and supplies. I suspect the trip will take 2-3 weeks, but whether we stay on the ICW or head to sea is somewhat weather-determinant.

We’re barely packed from having moved to RI a few weeks ago, and I’m back on the road (or the water). I’ve been traveling for weeks, as well, looking at boats, mostly non-starters, with a few potential backup options in mind if this one falls through for some reason upon survey. Buying a boat, especially one you plan to live on indefinitely, is equal parts exciting and exhausting.

And so it’s planes, and Lyfts, and heavy bags for a few more weeks, and then we need to clear schedules, fly to the south, and spend a few days getting her surveyed, sea trialed, and inspected. And in the interim, a few weeks on a luxury cat, learning how to helm a very different boat, and learning the ICW.

Cautious optimism abounds.