So let's talk a little about the boat. We started looking seriously for a boat during the winter and spent a couple of weekends working with a great broker called Jeff Rice who showed us a whole range of boats in the ~40ft range. In the future we are contemplating setting up a customized cruising business in Maine and we struggled with whether to buy a boat that would work in this setting or to go for something smaller that might be more suitable for us to cruise as a couple. In the end we were really struck by the quality of a 46 ft Morris that was for sale in Jamestown, RI. "Diva", as she used to be called, was built by Morris up in South West Harbor, Maine in 1999 and intended for off shore sailing. The original owner sailed her twice to Europe and back and also completed a number of Newport-Bermuda races. Although bigger than we planned we felt that this was an outstanding boat with tremendous potential. She has a v-berth with separate head, main cabin with pull out settees, an aft cabin, galley, navigation station and aft head with separate shower stall. she has a 75 horse power Yanmar diesel engine, with good capacity fuel and water tanks. All of the sailing controls are lead back to the cockpit and she has a very secure and solid feel.
We re-named and launched "Cotinga" in mid-May and have spent the past couple of months learning to sail this beautiful boat and preparing to spend a year aboard. Making the transition from a 16ft Daysailer to a 46 ft yacht has been a real eye opener! So far we have spent 19 days out sailing and 17 days working on jobs on the boat and trying to familiarize ourselves with the systems. Yes we are counting days! If we want to go ahead with setting up a cruising business then we will need a "100 ton" license, which requires us not only to pass a short course, but also to have 365 days of self-certified experience. Our goal over the next year is to build that experience.
Anyway, back to the boat. On the whole she is in great condition. The area that needed some upgrading was the navigational electronics. Over the past few weeks we have taken out the old non-functional radar and installed a new Simrad based system with broadband radar, GPS chart-plotter and Sirius weather module. It was a truly exciting moment when we were able to integrate electronic compass readings from the existing fluxgate compass, used by the auto-pilot, and achieve an overlay of the radar on to the GPS chart. We have also rubbed down and re-varnished the toe rail, which now looks much better than it did, but could still use a final sanding and extra coat. Probably the area that we have struggled with most is the septic systems. For the aft head a new stainless steel holding tank had been installed during the winter. This seems to work well, but unfortunately it appears that at that time the original tank gauge was disconnected and no sensor or monitor system was incorporated. For the unwary (us) - the first sign that the tank is full is when holding tank Contents are pumped up on the side deck through the vent - not too pleasant! I have now bought a tank sensor and monitor but haven't yet found the time (courage) to drill the 1 inch hole in the holding tank and install it. As for the forward head … we were on route to Montauk, Long Island and noticed water on the floor of the forward head. We were healed far over and assumed that we had left the intake valve open to "pump" rather than "dry". We subsequently found that this was not the case, but the plastic Y valve connecting the toilet to the overboard hose was cracked - so this had to be replaced. I'm sure we'll get to grips with these systems - but it's not where I expected to encounter problems.
As for the sailing - well that's been great. We've spent many days sailing in Narragansett Bay, and have also made trips to Block Island, Motauk and Watch Hill. The boat sails like a dream and whilst everything is on a bigger scale, the principles are the same as sailing our previous boat. We seem to be able to pick up moorings fairly easily and anchoring has gone well. However, docking seems to be more of a challenge. Extra help makes a real difference, but with just the two us it can be a struggle to manage the docking lines on such a big boat.
So now we are closing in on the end of July. We move out of our house on Sunday and will spend the following two weeks visiting family and friends in the UK. When we come back Tash will be heading back to college and we will be living on the boat for the next year. We do plan to go up to Maine for a few weeks starting mid August, then return to East Greenwich, RI to square away any issues, and then head south. I think most things are now in place - but with getting everything ready on the boat and moving out of the house we haven't given much thought to the details of where we are going to go - but I guess we will have time as we go along and that's part of the attraction!
