I apologize for the lengthy delay since the last post. We
left you off just before our survey and sea trial of the boat. We hired a
professional boat surveyor to look over every inch of the boat to make sure we
were buying a good, functioning boat. The process took two days and involved us
lifting the boat out of the water so the surveyor could see the hull and
propeller. Our surveyor, Lynne, looked over all the systems and tapped all over
the boat checking for water intrusion in the fiberglass. To our great relief,
Maya came back with a clean bill of health and we were able to quickly come to
a final price with the seller. At this point we worked with our marine title
company to get all the paperwork, taxes, and other filings submitted to make
the transaction official.
When we first found Maya on craigslist, we were overwhelmed
by the amount of stuff that we needed to learn and do to properly (and safely)
purchase her without the help of a marine broker. After going through the
process, I can confidently say, anyone could forgo the use of a marine broker.
We saved thousands by doing it ourselves, and it only involved some light correspondence
and logistics to make sure the right people were at the right place at the
right time. Learned a bunch, saved a bunch of money, and we feel great about
Maya. Now onto the fun stuff….. sailing!
Maya was moored in Shilshole Bay Marina in Seattle. We were
able to continue leasing her slip there until we found another slip closer to
the San Juan Islands, which is where we want to cruise for the next year. To
give you an idea, Seattle is a two day sail from the San Juan Islands, so it
was important to us that we got her closer to the islands. We were able to
score a slip at Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes, Washington almost immediately. Once
we got the word a space was available we made plans to sail Maya north as soon
as possible to avoid paying double moorage fees ($400-500/month for each slip).
While Jenny and I had taken a week long sailing class last
year, we were a bit nervous about taking her out for the first time. We were
confident about our ability to sail in the open water, but our class was only
briefly touched on maneuvering a boat in the marina. To be honest, I was
terrified of pulling the boat out and driving it around the marina, with all
the other nice boats. Thankfully, the previous owner is a great guy and spent a
day with us showing us how to handle the boat in the close quarters of the
marina. Maya is a super sturdy boat that will handle open water and large waves
like a champ. Unfortunately, that strong open water performance means we
sacrifice maneuverability in confined spaces like marinas. After a few hours of
practice we felt better about driving the boat in the marina, although I still
lost sleep in the days before taking Maya out for the first time by ourselves.
Now the time had come to make our maiden voyage with Maya.
This would be our first time sailing without supervision… just us and Disco!
Fortunately, the winds were calm, and marina very quiet for that first mission
from the slip to the fuel dock. We got Maya to the fuel dock without any issues
and thus successfully completed the first hurdle! Phew!
After fueling up, we embarked on our way north. We sailed
for the first few hours, but ended up motoring, as the winds were coming
directly from where we were headed. Our boat has autopilot, which means we can
set the boat on a course and it will make automatic adjustments without our
input….. SUPER SWEET FEATURE! We kicked back, drank coffee, basked in the sun,
and soaked in the views of Mt Rainier and the Olympic and Cascade mtns. With a
motoring speed of about 5mph, we cranked out the miles and made it the marina
in Port Townsend by mid afternoon.
Upon reaching Port Townsend, we met some other sailors who
informed us of a big blow coming in the next day. We had planned on crossing
the Strait of Juan de Fuca the next day, but with weather reports showing winds
of 40mph and gusts of 60mph, we made the easy decision to stay put in Port
Townsend an extra day to let the wind die down. Sure enough, the next day, the
wind blew like we’d never seen it blow- we were very thankful for our decision
to stay in port to wait for a weather window. Having the extra day in Port
Townsend worked out great because it allowed us to explore this quaint,
Victorian style port town. We walked all over town enjoying the sights and
sounds of this somewhat secluded town. I highly recommend visiting if you have
time.
The next day we were met with calm winds and nice weather to
make the final push to Anacortes. We headed out into the Strait and encountered
some swell that was left over from the wind storm, but Maya handled like a
champ and were quickly into more protected waters and calm seas. After
approximately 17 hours of motoring/sailing over the course of 3 days we landed
in Anacortes and successfully closed our maiden voyage with Maya. While on the
trip, we got to know Maya better, and learned what things we want to upgrade
before sailing south. We had a wonderful first trip and look forward to many
many more in the future. We’ve a pretty full summer of travel coming up, but we
are squeezing in some time for sailing. Stay tuned for the next post! Thanks
for reading!
First happy hour
Disco settling into life on the boat
Our first guests on Maya!
Made it to the fuel dock! Wooo!
Maya at the fuel dock in Shilshole Marina in Seattle
A relieved captain at the fuel dock
Photo Op at the fuel dock
Disco relaxing in transit to Port Townsend on our first day
Olympic Mountains!
Happy Caffeinated Captain
Jenny and Disco with Olympic Mtns in background
Washington State Ferry in the distance
Don't hit the big boat....
Made it to Port Townsend! Looking good, Jenny!
Maya at dock in Port Townsend
Relaxing below decks during wind storm
The calm before the storm in Port Townsend
We watched the wind gauge the entire time- we saw one measurement of 56 knots (64mph)!
Trying to stay warm in Port Townsend during the wind storm
Lovely evening in Port Townsend
A MASSIVE Boat life- Port Townsend does a lot of boat building and maintenance work.
Massive! This whole thing was shaking in the wind so we snapped a pick and ran away!
Jenny at the helm
Mac being seasick. Disco trying to help.
A shot of the cockpit with Jenny relaxing
Boat life....
