This week was cause for celebration. One evening, as we returned from a chilly walk, we opened the mailbox and found a much anticipated envelope with a US Coast Guard return address. It was our documentation for Prudence! After several long months of waiting, we finally have a Certificate of Documentation which officially provides conclusive evidence of nationality for international purposes.

Now, you may wonder why such jubilation is directed toward such a mundane clerical item. Well, documenting Prudence was not an easy task. I guess we should have been prepared for difficulty when we learned that companies will assist you in obtaining boat documentation for a mere $250-500 fee. Always wanting to do things in the most frugal, if not most efficient manner, we decided to try applying for the documentation all on our own. That decision, though, was where my efforts ended and Sheryl's began.

Sheryl completed and submitted the paperwork for documentation as soon as we had decided upon a name for our boat, back in November-2006. After waiting several weeks, a response came back that the Coast Guard would not accept the bill of sale we had from the previous owners, because they are Canadian and had the paper notarized by a Canadian notary. Sheryl contacted our broker about what to do, and (fortunately) the broker still had power of attorney and could issue a new bill of sale and have it witnessed by a US notary. Paperwork was submitted, once again, and we waited. The next response from the Coast Guard expressed concern about the trail of ownership. Our Southern Cross had three previous owners before us. The first two were Americans, and the boat had been previously documented under their ownership. However the transfer of ownership to a Canadian couple marked the end of the previous documentation. After a lengthy time on hold, Sheryl finally spoke to a Coast Guard representative who explained that their concern was this transfer of ownership to the foreign couple. Fortunately, for us, they had not tried to document the boat in Canada, but instead had registered the boat in Delaware. Sheryl again contacted our broker and obtained the previous bill of sale, documenting the transfer of boat ownership to the Canadians (fortunately that sale was handled by the same broker) and included a copy of the Delaware registration. Again, several weeks of time passed and we began to get concerned about what the Coast Guard would object to next.

Our concerns were not justified, because the next mailing contained the aforementioned certificate. In fact, since the documentation number remained the same (and is shown on the interior of the hull) and the name is proudly displayed on the stern, we are through with this process for one year (when the documentation expires). Hopefully, renewal will be a bit easier. On a positive note, vessels documented with the U.S. Coast Guard do not need to be registered in North Carolina. Therefore, that is one less fee we will have to incur.

Speaking of registering a vessel, we did not go to Whortonsville this weekend. Instead, we traveled down to Murrells Inlet, SC to purchase a dinghy. Way back in November, I had found this tender for sale through a boat broker. When I contacted the broker to inquire about the vessel, I was told that the owner was currently waiting for the titles to clear from New York. I was told to keep in touch and check back on a regular basis to see if the paperwork had come in making the boat available for purchase. Well, a few weeks ago the title came through, so we planned to make a trip to South Carolina and take a look.

We drove down on Saturday and found the 1992 Achilles dinghy, with removable wooden floorboards, to be in excellent condition. The engine, a 3 hsp Evinrude, looks a little rough around the edges, but we managed to get it started. The price for the whole package was too good to pass up, so we folded it up and put it in the back of our car. It should work well and fit into the cockpit sail lockers. In addition, the older nature and rougher condition of the engine will make it less likely to be stolen (or, at least, we hope so). Due to the four months we had to wait for this dinghy, we have decided that we will call her Patience. In fact, considering the situation with the documentation, our still-to-be fixed exhaust system, and our general anticipation of going crusing, 'patience' seems to be an important watchword for us.

Since we were only an hour away, we took the opportunity to spend a day with our friends, Chuck and Denise. They moved to Charleston about 3 years ago, and we miss them terribly. It was nice to have an opportunity to catch up and enjoy a late night of card-playing (which was our standard winter-weekend activity before they moved away and we became boat owners).

We returned home on Sunday afternoon, excited to have found another essential item on our 'need-to-have' list, and prepared to face another week of work. A business trip to Atlanta should help my week move along quickly. By Friday, I am certain that both Sheryl and I will be anxious to see Prudence, again. This will mark our longest time away from the boat since we purchased her back in October, and the separation anxiety is already weighing heavy.

Until next week, dear Reader.

Note: For a few more weekend photos, CLICK HERE