Publish Date: Monday, August 4, 2008
Coordinates: 27° 12.44′ N 080° 15.77′ W
Wow! We did it: We sold our home, bought a boat, packed up our life, and moved aboard. Our new home, a Nordhavn 43′ trawler, is currently located in Stuart, Florida. (I can say two things about Stuart: it’s hot and it’s humid! I’m sure it’s not like this all the time, but this week it’s like soup — you can drink the air.) We will be here for one week, moving aboard, stowing our gear, learning the systems, and getting ready to move the boat to the Chesapeake Bay (to get out of the hurricane zone).
One of our first official acts was to de-name and re-name the boat, which required much cermony and fermented beverage (i.e., Champagne). As you may know, there is significant superstition around re-naming a boat, and we wanted to make sure we did it all right so we didn’t anger or confuse Neptune or Triton. To de-name the boat, you have to remove from the boat every physical evidence of the prior name, and then perform a ceremony on the bow to tell Neptune and Triton that a boat of the old name no longer sails on their waters. A whole bottle of good Champagne assists with this ceremony. Once this is done, you apply the new name to the boat, and then perform a similar ceremony informing Neptune and Triton of the new boat that will be sailing on their waters. Again, a whole bottle of good Champagne is required for this ceremony. It’s all good fun, and even if you don’t believe in the supersition, can it really hurt?
The name we have chosen for our boat is “Three @ Sea”, referring of course to Kathryn, Ayla, and myself. We love this name, but it left us with a bit of a problem because of our liveabord cat, Piccadilly (“Four @ Sea” doesn’t really have the same ring to it). To remedy this, we decided to name the dingy “Dilly Too”. Out of context this will be totally confusing, but does anybody really care what your dingy’s name is?!?
We are thrilled with our new home, and we’re excited to finally be aboard. We have alot to learn about piloting and maintaining her, but for now we’re content to be lulled to sleep by the gentle motion of the seas around us.