Month: March 2016

Another Hurdle Down

Last night, the Bride and I (probably need to start calling her the First Mate), attended the Acceptance Committee meeting at the Capital Yacht Club to participate in an interview that would lead to our acceptance as full active members.

While no decision was relayed to us, and we won’t know officially until the next Board Meeting on April 20, the interview meeting went pretty well from our observations.  At the end we felt good about how things went.

On the other aspects, our closing/settlement date for the Condo sale will happen not later than May 6, and could actually be sooner.  We will then close on the yacht within 24 hours following that action.

We hope to have all the yacht papers in place, signed off and notarized and the last step would be to transfer the final fund payment to the escrow account.  Then the work begins to make this yacht ours, and reflect our tastes.

I also purchased my new IPAD Pro 12.9 tablet which we will use as the navigation/GPS/charting system for the boat.  I have loaded the navigation software onto the IPAD and will be experimenting with it over the next few weeks.

More as it happens.

 

Acceptance Day

Today, Wednesday, March 30 is the day we will meet and be interviewed by the Admission/Acceptance Committee at the Capital Yacht Club.  To say I am anxious is the pinnacle of understatements.  This interview and the Committee’s acceptance is critical to our having a convenient, comfortable and secure berth for the Misty Lady and Charlotte’s commute to her office.

We are scheduled to meet the committee members at 7:00 pm this evening at the CYC club house.  We are hopeful that all will go well and our acceptance will be granted.  Becoming a member of this yacht club, which is over 125 years old, will ensure that we and our yacht have a good home, with caring, helpful and knowledgeable people, good resources and a plethora of close by sites for visitation.  I suspect that Char and I will get in a lot of steps walking over to the Mall, visiting the memorials and the Smithsonian Museums.  But it all comes down to good happenings today.

Also, today is the day that our buyer will have his home inspection process which is the first major process toward the eventual closing and settlement for our condominium apartment.

Wish us lots of Luck today, folks.  A lot rides on today being a good one.

 

A maor hurdle is almost behind us.

March 23, 2016

This afternoon we received an offer on our condo. By the evening time, the buyer’s agent and our agent had worked through electronic means to prepare, submit and obtain acceptance signatures to ratify the Contract.  Of course there is still a buyer’s home inspection and appraisal process to complete, but we are confident that these will not be problematic.  Once these two things have been accomplished it is on to the Closing or Settlement date.  Not going to happen tomorrow unfortunately, because nothing in the financial world moves efficiently. If nothing happens to hang the entire situation, we will most likely be in settlement/closing the first week in May.

Yeah, I know, why couldn’t it be tomorrow? Anyway, soon we will see a final path to beginning our process from land based humans, to seafaring wonders….

Once we have this process fully implemented, we will then begin the process of closing on the yacht.  It will also require some formal steps including a settlement date.  We hope to schedule that date within two days of the condo’s settlement.  Would like it to be sooner, but things have to happen in a process.

Fingers crossed everyone, this is taking a long time, but I am convinced all the hurdles are going to be worth it.

At any rate, unless some catastrophic event happens, by the second week in May, our little family will become seafaring folk.  I am preparing the Misty Lady’s re-commissioning list, so far there are 23 items on the list, some very important, and some good to have done.  Stay tuned.

 

Back To School

Now that we are committed to the acquisition of the motor yacht, we will be taking some classes.  A few will be new, while some will be refreshers.  Today, Monday the 21st of March, I will be visiting with the Washington, DC Harbor Patrol offices to obtain reference material for taking the Safety Certificate testing.  This certificate is similar to a drivers license for the waters under the jurisdiction of the DC Harbor Patrol.  This certificate indicates that we have shown knowledge of the requirements to operate our vessel safely.

Other courses that we will be taking over the coming weeks include piloting, line handling, navigation and course charting, NOAA and Coast Guard regulations for motor yachts our size.  Much of this is a refresher, been quite a few years since I was involved in boating so much has changed, but also many aspects have faded from the memories.

We also meet with our second sponsor for the yacht club membership process.  The admissions committee will meet on the 30th of March and we hope for a strong acceptance.

Another item of education will be the possible laying off in anchorage should this be necessary.  There is always a possibility that we will not be able to secure a permanent slip for a few weeks or months, so we will tie up at the “T” or lie at anchor in the Washington Channel.  Instruction and guidance for these actions will be provided by the Rear Commodore of the Yacht Club.

Final Acceptance Process

Friday March 18 we concluded the acceptance stage of the MY Misty Lady. This involved executing a document that spelled out the remaining things that the current owner would need to get accomplished for our acceptance. This was called a Conditional Acceptance Certification. In this stage, we identified the last few things that we wanted performed by the current owner and once accomplished, we would fully accept the yacht. All of the parties have signed off on this document and we are now committed to the acquisition of the yacht. The only thing remaining is the sale of our condo and the payment of the remaining funds. At that point, the Misty Lady (currently Roving Retreat II) will be ours.
Praying for a buyer for our condo soon.

Sea Trial is Complete

This morning, Sunday March 13, 2016, we again traveled to Dundalk and took the yacht out for a re-trial.  The day was overcast, but the temperature was comfortable.  Once again the current owner impressed me with the handling of this large vessel.  Onboard this time were my 1st Mate Charlotte, my son, Cliff, my daughter-in-law Becky and my two grand daughters, Hattie and Cammie.  Also aboard were Ken the surveyor engineer, Walt the broker and the two owners.   A full crew.

We left the slip at about 10:30 and headed out toward the bay.  We brought the yacht up to the cruise speed and the RPMs for both engines were showing well within the curve.  The temperature and oil gauges showed the previous problems had been corrected.  The surveyor was in the engine room for the majority of the run, after evaluating the instrument panel and determined that the engines were both operating well within tolerances.

We ran on for a few minutes more and then turned back toward the marina.  The second sea trial was a success.  Ken the surveyor will have the final report for me by Monday and we can then finalize our “pick” list of items to be either corrected by the owner or accepted by us for later attention.  All in All, she is a terrific vessel and we look forward to the finalization of the purchase.

Of course that also depends on the sale of our condo, and we are hopeful that this hurdle will be behind us in a couple of weeks.  We had another prospect tour the apartment yesterday and the real estate agent indicated that “We liked the Condo”.  My thing is now, let’s see some offers and a contract!

But on the bright side, one major step has been put behind us!  On to the next step.

 

The Sea Trial 2nd Attempt

Well, we are going to take the Misty Lady (currently the Roving Retreat) out for the second attempt at a sea trial.  The other items for the survey of our soon to be sea going home, are duly recorded and I have my pick list to ensure that we miss nothing prior to her commissioning as the Misty Lady.

We will gather at the marina where the vessel is currently berthed and after a short planning session will board the boat for the sea trial.  This time the boat will have my 1st Mate, Charlotte on board.  She was in Nashville at a meeting the last time.  My son and his family are also going to try to be aboard when we take her out for the trials.

Once the sea trial is completed, we will begin to lay in the supplies, tools and scheduled workers to put her right for our acceptance into the Capital Yacht Club.

Keep your fingers crossed for us that all goes well.  Our condo is on the market and we have had one expression of interest so far.  Once the condo has been sold, we will bring the yacht down to Washington and begin our life as “cruisers” aboard this super neat vessel.

Both Charlotte and I will also be going back to school.  We have to pass a test for a Boating Safety Certification before we are allowed to ply the waters of the Washington DC area.  We also will be taking additional course on ship handling, navigation, and other yachting related courses.  Many of these I had taken in the past, but after so many years, a refresher course of study is certainly warranted.

Looking forward to the next entry in this log, when I talk about the sea trial and perhaps post photos from the voyage.

 

Next Steps

Some changes will be made over the next few weeks.  Following the next sea trial, we will begin the process of upgrades and redecorating to make this vessel truly ours.

The Bridge

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This is the bridge of the Misty Lady.  Note the instrumentation on the left, the two large devices are from a former navigational system that the United States shut down quite some time ago.  These two units will be replaced with up to date, digital technology.  The gauges in the center, just above the wheel are to monitor the functioning of the two diesel turbo charged engines.  the plastic cover is the plotting table, but no one uses paper charts anymore with the GPS and digital navigational aids that are currently available.  Beneath the chart plotting table are the two radios, one is a radio telephone and the other is a VHS radio.  Bow and stern cameras will be installed, and we are also considering the installation of a camera in the engine room to monitor this critical section.

Also note on the two sides behind the captain’s chair, you can just see the two settees that are aligned along the sides of the bridge.  This sitting will accommodate about 6 – 8 people.

The Salon and Master Stateroom

The salon will be redecorated under the supervision of Charlotte, the Misty Lady’s First Mate.  New Furniture including a sleeper sofa, side chairs and the carpet will be replaced with new teak flooring.  The wet bar shown alongside the chair boast a brass sink. Below, behind the larger door is a small refrigerator for cold drink and supplies.

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The Master Stateroom will have a TempurPedic mattress (we just bought this a few months ago and it will go with us to the new home.  There are not a lot of things necessary for the Master Stateroom but we will definitely look closely at anything that might be a chance to upgrade.

This shows two sections of the Master Stateroom.  This cabin also has a hanging locker (a closet for land folks), and a private head (bathroom).

The Davit and the Dingy

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This is a photo of the Davit and under the cover to the right is the dingy (a 10 foot Zodiac style boat with an outboard 8 hp Honda motor).  The davit is in essence a five ton rated crane/hoist that is used normally for bringing heavy items, such as the dingy on and off the boat.  This davit will also be used to bring aboard the new furniture and other items that are heavy and hard to handle.

Over the coming days, I will share other photos and try to present an overall image of what we will be encountering as we adjust to a life afloat.  In these early photographs, please remember that a majority of the views will be considerably changed as we go forward with the upgrade and redecorating.

 

 

Doing the Survey!

Thursday, March 3, 2016 – At the Anchor Bay East Marina. Dundalk, Maryland

I arrived at the marina at 8:45am for the start of the survey and sea trial activity scheduled for 9:00.  Yeah, I know I am sort of weird that way, always have to be ahead of schedule rather than behind….  A long drive from the Eclipse to the marina at Dundalk!  Be glad when she is relocated down to the Washington, DC waterfront!

The Surveyor, Ken, the Owner, Ron and the Broker, Walt all were there on time.  We decided to do the “haul out” and hull inspection first off.  “Haul Out” is when the boat is lifted out of the water by a huge piece of equipment called a Travel Lift.  We droved the yacht into the special slip and the Travel Lift operator began by lifting the straps to touch the bottom.  Remember folks, this yacht weighs more than 55,000 pounds!  What a machine that Travel Lift is.  The Ron, Ken and I all disembarked from the yacht and the operator began the process of lifting her out of the water.  When she was high enough to clear the edge of the dock, he moved further into the shipyard area so that Ken the surveyor could walk under her and perform his inspections.

During the inspection of the hull, the “zincs” were found to need replacing.  Zincs are also referred to as “suicidal zincs” because the give up their volume to protect the other metal aspects of the yacht from the attacks of electrolytes and other nasty things that are naturally occurring in the water.  Zincs were replaced on several areas of critical need around the aft end of the vessel.

Once the surveyor (sort of like a home inspector on steroids, except he is a certified marine engineer), completed the hull inspection, he gave me the word that she was sound and in excellent shape.  He used a couple of instruments to look at the hull for water intrusion, weak spots, etc. YES!!!

We returned the boat to the water and motored it back out of that area to begin the sea trial.  I was very impressed with Ron (the owner ) turned that huge boat around inside her own length using the engines only.  One forward, one reverse and she simply spun around on her stern.

We pointed her toward the Bay and headed out.  First up were two bridges that we would need to pass.  Walt took the spotter station and discovered that even though the boat would clear (the Bridge is the highest point), it turned out that the three antennas were too high and we had to lower them to a horizontal position.  This would have to be done once more when we returned.

Passing the second bridge the owner began to increase the speed of the yacht.  Vessels this size to not accelerate rapidly (thank Goodness).  After a few minutes we discovered that the starboard (right) engine was heating up past the normal.  It appeared that either one of the lines providing cooling water, or the impeller (that moves the water through the engine) was not working properly.  We headed back to the slip and continued with the rest of the inspection. The owner would have the starboard engine checked out and repair the reason for the overheating (not an engine problem, just an accessory thing).  We would schedule another sea trial prior to the final transaction activity.  This was actually a benefit, because now both my son, Cliff and my wife Charlotte would be available to make the sea trial trip.  The rest of the inspection items were checked off and samples of the engine oil and transmission oil were taken for analysis.  The survey report will be provided electronically, except for the sea trial, within 24 hours.  Ken’s general observation was that this Bluewater Yacht was very stable, mechanically (except for the starboard thing) very good shape, and only small nits were identified.  We expected those so no big deal.

We hope to schedule the second sea trial sometime next week if all parties can be available.  Hoping for Fair Winds and Calm Seas.

 

Doing the Survey and Sea Trial

Tomorrow morning, I will drive up to Dundalk, MD (Baltimore area) to the marina where the yacht is berthed currently.  I will meet with the certified Surveyor and the Yacht Broker.  At 9:00 am we will start the process.  The surveyor will check and test every component on the yacht, from the bow to the stern and everywhere in between.  The yacht will be hauled (moved out of the water by a huge tractor with slings) and the survey will check the external hull, the fittings that are “through the hull”, the drive shafts, and the props for damage or faults.

Then once all of these things have been accomplished, the survey will move to the sea trial process.  The yacht will be moved back into the water and we will start the engines moving outward of the marina and into the Chesapeake Bay.  The sea trial can take as much a several hours but should only be about three to four.  Following the sea trial we will return to the marina, dock the yacht in her assigned slip and return her to the current owners.  I will then write a check to the surveyor and to the shipyard for the haul out services.

Within 24 hours the surveyor will provide me with a detailed certification of the existing condition of the yacht.  If all goes well no problem and we move forward with the acquisition, if not, the option to correct will be given to the owners or I will have the option of choosing to effect the corrections myself.  Adjustments of the purchase price may result.

But, we have faith that the yacht will come through all of the certification, evaluation and sea trial testing with flying colors.  See what an optimist I am?

More following the activity tomorrow, Thursday March 3, 2016.  Stay tuned.