We hope this is our final boat purchase.  This time it's our dreamboat instead of another shipwreck. 

We have long thought that the Cape Dory 28 would be the most perfect boat for the cruising we want to do in our retirement.  (4 years, 2 months to go.)  So, several months ago I placed a posting on the CDSOA message board asking if anyone in the Chesapeake Bay area had a Cape Dory 28 they might be willing to charter to us during the summer so that we could take a cruise.  We didn't think we were ready to purchase yet since we have 4 boats in various stages of repair or demolition already, but we were anxious to get out there and take a cruise and to confirm to ourselves that we were on the right track with the CD-28.

We were shortly contacted by the owner of the "Splended Splinter".  I had met Sharon, the owner, at CDSOA functions in the past and although I didn't know her personally, I knew her to be an active, knowledgeable sailor and past commodore of the association.  She told us she would be open to chartering the boat to us for a summer cruise if she still had it at that point, but that she was also very interested in selling and asked if we would keep that possibility in mind.  It was the middle of winter, the boat was tucked under her winter cover and we had a million other things going on, so even though the possibility of buying the boat was extremely tempting, we didn't think it was the right time and so we took no action on it at the time.  And then spring arrived............

Sunshine and warm weather changes everything.  The marinas come alive, the slick new boat gear catalogs start arriving in the mail, the water looks so inviting with the sun sparkling on it, and now we really really want to go sailing!!  So one Sunday a couple of weeks ago we decide to take a ride to the Hammock Island Marina in Pasadena, MD where the boat is berthed and just have a look at her.  She was still under her winter cover and we couldn't really see a lot, but what we could see looked pretty good.  Since we had come that far south, we headed down to Chevy's in Annapolis for lunch (to justify our effort and our gas usage) then on down to Herrington Harbour to see how many other CD 28's we could see.  The bug was biting us hard!

Then last Sunday, the 13th, we took another drive to Hammock Island and there she was, in all her glory, no more winter cover.  And she looked extremely good to us.  We have looked at probably a couple dozen 28's and 30's over the past several years and this was really the nicest one we had seen.  Lance suggested I call Sharon to see if the Splinter was still for sale, and faster than you could say lickety split she and her husband Mike were driving up at the marina.

We spent a pleasant afternoon looking around the boat and talking with Mike and Sharon and by the end of the visit a very favorable deal had been struck for the purchase of the Splinter.  (She will be renamed "Sojourner" when her transfer papers are filed.)  A deposit was given and we drove home with ear to ear smiles and that "pinch me" feeling that you have when something has just happened that seems too wonderful to be true.

On Monday we contacted the rear commodore at the Baltimore Yacht Club, where we are members, and informed him that we wanted to bring in a boat and would need a slip assignment.  He gave us 6 slips to choose from, so we went down and made our choice.  Later that evening we called him to tell him we were ready to sign a contract on slip C-55 and almost as an afterthought Lance decided to talk draft with him.  BYC is mostly power boats and I guess the draft for a sailboat hadn't really come to the commodore's mind.  He said he wasn't sure whether or not any of the available slips had sufficient draft and the only way we would know is if we went down and sounded the slip.  So at 10:41 PM on Monday evening (low tide) we were at the marina with our car lights shining down the dock (it's a wonder no one called the cops on us)  and an 8 foot pole marked off at 6" increments sounding the length of our intended slip.  We thought we had 5' at low tide, but darn, it was really dark out and we wished we could be more sure.  The tide charts showed that Tuesday morning's tide was supposed to be even lower than the one the night before, so I went and sounded the slip again and it looked like we had a good 4'6".  At that point we figured the worst that could happen in the event of an extreme low tide would be that our keel would sit in the mud a little and we would be stuck until the tide came back in again.  It was a go.

This past week has been all about paperwork, insurance, and all those annoying financial details.  Not my favorite part, but a necessary evil.  Tonight we met Mike and Sharon at the boat and ran the engine for a bit (sounds great), bent on the sails and went through the systems.  Wednesday night is settlement and with good luck and good weather we will sail her home this coming weekend.

We still have our other blog which will serve as a forum to talk about the restoration work we are doing on our other boats, and just to chat sailing in general.  It is http://blog.oldragbaggersonline.com.   This site will serve as an online deck log for the Sojourner, and will be devoted to Cape Dory.

Fair Winds!!
Becky