We have made a total lifestyle change commitment. We made a firm offer to purchase a power yacht and become live aboard people. This is something I have dreamed about for decades and in the coming weeks we will realize that dream.
The photo above is a picture of our new water borne home. She is a 54 foot Blue Water aft cabin yacht. She has three cabins (bedrooms), three heads (bathrooms) and a salon (living room). She boasts a full galley (kitchen and dining room), and a command bridge. She has a 16.5-foot beam (width) and draws 4 feet of water. Her name, following the renaming ceremony will be the Misty Lady.
Of course there are several steps necessary to get to that stage of being the relaxed, laid back folks who live permanently aboard a floating home. We first had to make the offer and have the existing owner accept. CHECKED!
Then we have to have a survey and sea trial for the boat and that is scheduled for Thursday March 3, 2016. Will start the inspection at 9:00am and the process will continue through out the day, until around 5 or so in the evening. Once the survey is completed, the inspector will prepare a report for us and it will list any areas to be resolved. The report will further provide us with a statement of the components on the yacht that are in fine shape. My son, Cliff and I will be involved with the inspection and will also be making measurements, taking photos and listening/watching the areas covered by the inspector and his assistant.
On March 7 our condo will go on the market and we are hoping that it sells quickly. The funds from that sale will also go toward the purchase and activities concerning the yacht.
Most importantly, I have presented myself for membership in the Capital Yacht Club located on the Washington, DC water front. This is where we hope to berth the yacht.
The yacht’s current name is Roving Retreat II and our plan is to change her name to the Misty Lady. Changing the name of a marine vessel is not a simple task. For one thing, one must hold a “Renaming Ceremony” where we toast the vessel, give a tribute to the GOD of the water, seas, rivers, lakes. This ceremony must be attended by friends and supporters. They must cheer the new owner (me) and tell the god of the sea that we have given a great ceremony with good food and drink. We must pour at least a half bottle of champagne over the pulpit (anchor spit) with the contents flowing into the water for the benefit of Poseidon/Neptune and to beg his favor for fair winds and good seas. Once the renaming ceremony has been completed, the new name of the yacht can be uncovered (it should already be painted on the stern and covered until after the ceremony beseeching has been accomplished.
What fun huh?
From this point forward, I will strive to provide an update on a regular basis of the progress toward the acquisition and decorating, along with a description of the voyage from the Dundalk area (next to Baltimore, MD) down the Bay to the Potomac and then up that river to our berthing at the Capital Yacht Club.
Wish us luck in all these endeavors. We are going to need it.
Author: harv1941
Just a summary, I am 84 years of age, retired in July 2013 and settled down to promoting the dangers of bacterial meningitis, which killed my beloved son, Mike in 2009. My wife, Charlotte, and I embarked on an adventure of live aboard cruising, aboard a large Blue Water motor yacht. While our beginning was rather fraught with hurdles, we continued to look forward to the day we moved aboard the Misty Lady and cruise the eastern seaboard and associated waterways. After more than four years of life aboard this Bluewater Motor Yacht, I developed an advanced problem due to interaction with medications and experienced rather frightening balance problems. Therefore, getting on and off the yacht was fraught with danger of falling between the docks and the boat's hull. Walking the docks was also problematic considering that our yacht club docks were all floating docks and my balance problem was a danger during the walk from our yacht's docking slip to the clubhouse or out to the DC Wharf facilities and our car housed in the yacht club's reserved garage. SO, we had to regretfully put the Misty Lady up for sale and move back on shore. We moved on shore, first into a condo apartment in Alexandria, then after two years there, we relocated to the city of Newport News, in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Our original desired location was in the city of Hampton, Virginia, which is the oldest English-speaking settlement in the United States having been established originally in 1610. My ancestors came to this country through this settlement in the mid 1600s and lived in that area for around 100 years before beginning a migration of one portion of our family toward the west.
I looked forward to moving back to this area and exploring the roots of my family, both maternal and paternal ancestry, but we found a great house in the Newport News area and became ensconced in the terrific neighborhood of Kiln Creek. My wife, being still actively employed, received a substantial offer in a position with a government contractor firm back up in Northern Virginia. So we put the Newport News house up for sale, receiving and accepting an offer withing two days. We then relocated back up to the city of Alexandria and into another high rise condo. My wife reached a point where considerations for retirement were becoming very important. She indicated that she really didn't want to retire in Alexandria, so once again we began a house search in the Tidewater area, this time in the City of Williamsburg and in a community restricted to 55+ age owners. We found the ideal location, initiated the sale and closing for our retirement home. We then put our condo on the market. Alas, the market was not as robust as before so we had to change asking price a couple of time, but finally the Alexandria Condo was sold. Now we are set to enjoy the great locations found here in the Tidewater/Hampton Roads area, considering that we are history buffs and there are literally hundreds of historical sites in this segment of our nation. Of course living in Williamsburg is the epitome of history living life.
So, now we are in our retirement home, in a great retirement type community. A great clubhouse with a fine dining restaurant, a grill/pub, an award winning PGA designed golf course and miles of walking trails. Looking forward to my wife's eventual full retirement and the two of us visiting all up and down the east coast historical spots.
View all posts by harv1941
Misty Lady Thought and Comment 
Oh Harvey this sounds like such a gutsy and fun, amazing thing to do. You should do a series of stories and photos from your new home and publish them. I’ll be looking forward to updates.
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Will do, Jane. I have some pictures already, but we are planning on lots of upgrades to change the interior to our own particular likes and style.
My wife and her sister Julie will be in charge of the interior decoration and I will be in charge of the electronics and the external surfaces (I get to wash and wax the decks, aft and side surfaces).
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