Author: harv1941

April 3, 2016- As many of you are aware, Char and I are blessed with two (not one but two) fur babies.  A Tortie named Penny and a Grey Tabby named The Duchess.  Now also understand that kitties are normally a staunch landlubber species.  So, my need was to forewarn these two that in the coming weeks they would become valued crew members of the Motor Yacht (MY) Misty Lady.  I beseeched them to grant me the honor of listening to my reasons for uprooting them from their comfortable condo living, with large windows on the world of bird and other critters, and forcing them to abide with us on a floating home.

They were not amused.  Penny stared at me for a long time (four nanoseconds, which is an eternity for kitty time), then flicked her tail and strolled out of the room.  The Duchess, as is her wont, sat there staring without blinking for a considerable pause.  Then then gave out with a huge yawn and the resulting look was the equivalent of “What Ever”.

I am going to assume that the transition from land based life to living on a large yacht in the waters of the eastern coastline and related waterways of the United States will be one of resignation and eventual adjustment by these two.  One must continually bear in mind that the feline world looks upon us lower lifeforms in a condescending, yet affectionate way.  At least the two who inhabit our life are that way.  It only took them about 18 months to forgive us when we moved them from the large town house in Loudoun County to the smallish condo apartment in Crystal City.  NOW?  Who knows.  Living on a boat will be considerably different, they will have to go up and down steps to transition from one resting place to another, from their litter box to their food and water stations, and from a soft bed cover to the bridge where abundant sunshine will be available for their sunning competition.  Alas, the horrors!

Optimist that I am, it is my belief that in short order the rumbling of the diesel engines, the sound of waves slapping against the bow and an ever changing scenic view will win them over.  I know the idea of living and playing on a large waterborne craft is the epitome of coolness, but considering that Kitties are already the coolest of the cool, perhaps they will not view this as a contributing factor to their increasing level of cool.

I mean, just look at Penny in her coolness, chilling on the floor.

Duchess hasn’t even deigned to arise from her comfort.

Perhaps once they are at sea, their attitudes will change and they will bestow upon the Captain (me) and the 1st Mate (Char), their acceptance of our new home.

Afterall, they still have slightly less than 4 weeks until closing on both the house and on the yacht.

Keeping an optimistic view.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.