The Adventure Begins
29 July 2014 | Sarasota, FL
LoLo
They call the wind Mariah, so I am told. Apparently, that is a little before my time. However, I have learned quickly as that is the name of our new boat! “Mariah” is what we bought and she is a 39’ Irwin. The previous owners loved her and treated her well, and she in return won them many racing awards and gave them many memories. Our intentions are not racing, but cruising, so we are making a lot of updates and changes and trying to find our way.
We are “new salts” in this world and yes, we went BIG, but they say, “Go big or go home” so big we went. We have plans and dreams and want to fulfill some of them on this boat. And so we begin the #MariahAdventures.
Before we could do anything, she needed a new bottom job; new cutlass and some other work done, so off to the yard she went. Then we brought her back to her original dock and prepared to get her moved closer to home.
We have met so many awesome people, even in this very short time, and one of them is Barry (check out www.sailblog.com/seaswift). He was crew on “Mariah” for some of her races and saw that we had bought the boat and offered his assistance. Thank God for that…they say that people come into your life for a reason and that everything happens for a reason. It was Barry…not the boat broker, anyone at the boat yard, or the survey guy…who noticed that the turnbuckle attached to the roller furler was rusted and broken. If not for Barry, we would have set out on our first sail, which would have had all the makings for not only frustration, destruction, and angst, but potential fatality! But, by the grace of God, there’s Barry and he sees it, explains it, and helps us fix it. So, up that mast goes AK to get the old and broken one down, and again to get the brand new one up! And we finally get her closer to home. She is now in the mooring field, so close to us!
So now, it’s cleaning, repairing, updating…what is that saying about BOAT….Bank On Another Thousand; Bet On Another Thousand; etc. Whatever your preferred saying is…there it is…our living room looks like a Defender.com warehouse…and with each trip we bring more out there and get one more thing done…only to find something else that needs to be done…refer to the acronym above
We’ve had some amazing “mini adventures” out on the bay thus far…we’ve brought some family members, some friends out on some sails. We’ve learned (or are learning in my case) how to use and drive the dinghy…who exactly thought it was a good idea to make something that “drives” opposite of how we all know how to drive? I would personally like to have a conversation with that person! It’s not easy for me to “reverse” life…I don’t like when right equals left and left equals right. And getting back to “go big or go home” I am so happy we bought a boat with a WHEEL that turns the way it’s meant to…the way that makes sense…although delayed…this is not driving a car!
I could do whole posts on running out of gas in the dinghy; getting the dinghy wrapped underneath to the shaft and bailing the whole thing full of water and crying (best therapy ever!); first injuries while tacking and jibing; the bird poop and now searching for an owl; having to fix the transmission; the money spent on so much stuff…but this is not going to be a “technical blog” (if that’s what you’re hoping for…don’t subscribe, stop reading - I am the least technical person on the face of the planet).
Here’s what these posts will be about…our adventures, our trials…we bought this boat and the truth is, it’s for different reasons for both of us; she speaks to each of us differently and about different things, but she is ours, and we love her! We are working to get her in good cruising order, and getting ourselves in good cruising order as well.
We will get her there, and we will get there, and in the meantime, we are enjoying every minute of this new adventure and so excited about the adventures to come!
~Set Sail, Your Future Will Thank You!
LoLo & AK
SV Mariah