October/2008, Tampa Bay
Steve is retired from the corporate world and currently doing his dream job - starter at a golf course, and I recently was affected by a downsizing at my company when they sold off my division. I was going to quit fall of '09 anyway so we decided to push the date up to this spring if we could get everything ready. We now have decided to stick with the original fall date for starting this journey.
Most of the cosmetic work is done, but then I had the easy part. We will need to refinish the deck now that the weather is cooling down. All Electronics are in except for a new wind indicator to tie into the C80. Steve now has the refrigeration working and I was very excited to learn that I was not going to be at the mercy of hauling ice to keep food cold. He is in the middle of installing a new toilet and has rebuilt the floor under it. I am most excited about the purchase of a water-maker! To have unlimited water is going to be a real treat. Ah - showers! Next on his list is a new cook-top. We most likely will not have an oven and I am experimenting with baking on the grill using a pizza stone.
Before we leave Steve will go over the entire engine then we will haul out and paint the bottom, pack the cutlass bearing as well as any other work that needs to be done on the bottom.
This is all very exciting and our dream is coming closer to reality.
| Getting The Boat Ready |
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October/2008, West Coast to the East Coast
We are trying to track the history of our vessel. Here is what we have so far:
She was purchased new in Oakland, California in 1978 by a Steve S. She was named Gitane des Mers which is French for Sea Gypsy. This was Steve's first sailboat and he sailed in for 3 years first in the Oakland area and then San Francisco Bay, at that time boat had a sitka spruce boom and spar. He sold the boat in 1982 to a gentleman in his 60's and Steve believed that he planned on taking her to Mexico.
We believe this owner had her for several years until he died of a heart attack while sailing her in a race that may have been all Tayana boats. The woman sailing with him did not know how to sail and they were rescued by the Coast Guard. We are not sure if there is another owner in this time frame.
Next the boat was purchased by Les D. in the last 90's and trucked to Maryland. Les owned the boat for about 3 years but did not sail much as his significant other did not enjoy sailing.
David C. purchased the boat in 2002 and sailed her down the East Coast, around the Keys and up to Tampa Bay. David started refitting her for cruising but health issues forced him to offer her up for sail, um, I mean sale.
This is where we come in. We purchased her in April '08 to begin our dream and take up where David left off. David is sending us a book written by a previous owner and we will have much more history then.
| Beginning - The Boat |
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