"What's in a name"
"What's in a name"
This page is under construction - 01/04/01
On the water ! ADDED May 10th.
Interior changes updated May 10th.
boat exterior updated April 26th.
Trailer etc updated April 25th.
This page updated April 25th.
Misc changes updated March 15th.
How it all began......
It all started, believe it or not with a piece of furniture. We bought our house in the summer of 1999 and have spent most of our spare time since then updating it in various ways and were looking for an antique mahogany chest for the front foyer. So I bought a copy of the Want-advertizer. Not finding any furniture of interest we began browsing the magazine and fell to the used boats section...
We had talked before about possibly buying a boat at some point in the future, now all of a sudden we were circling adverts and calling up the sellers etc. In all we looked at several boats - most of them in the 19-22 foot range and all in dismal condition, before buying our 1972 (?) Venture 22 from her previous owners in Newburyport, MA.
We drove up there one evening after work to look at her - what became a 2+ hour drive in Boston rush hour traffic. To us, the uninformed, she looked great. Compared to everything else we had looked at she was a princess! "All the parts" were there including three sails (Main, Jib and 155 Genoa), a motor that 'just needed a little work', an anchor and various ropes etc etc.
What we neglected to see was the rusty trailer, the poor condition of the woodwork, the original, 30 year old standing rigging, the halyards and ropes in need of replacement, the flat tyre and the bald spare tyre, the welded mast, the agricultural (not marine) turnbuckles and a multitude of other items. In our favor was a brand new swing keel and bolt fitted by Havencraft the previous summer, mostly original equipment and no real major damage that would require a huge investment. All in all I think we got a great boat at a good price.
Pictures of the boat in her glory out in Utah taken several years previously (see below) tipped the deal for us and we made arrangements to return the following Saturday to collect her.
That following couple of days became frantic - not helped by that fact that we had guests in from out of town. An aftermarket tow hitch was eventually fitted to the truck and on Saturday morning we set off up Rt128 to Newburyport. The traffic was much different and we got there before the owners. Seeing her in daylight rather than dusk made us start to ask what we had done. I was in the middle of changing the flat tire on the trailer when Rich arrived and told me it was just a slow puncture. We retightened the wheel lugs and put some air in the tire. Within 45 minutes we were on our way, winding our ways back through the lanes of North Shore to the highway. Surprisingly - an uneventful trip home and I got her reversed up the driveway into 'her spot' at the first attempt.
Title and Registration were a typical Massachusetts nightmare. If anyone has dealt with the Mass RMV before you will know what I mean. An untitled boat and trailer only made matters worse. A 7 year old Utah registration, 3 trips to the various state agencies and one call to the Insurance company to obtain the RMV1 and we were all set, one registered sailboat and one registered trailer!
Originally, thinking we could keep her outside on the driveway all winter, we splurged on a Tyvek boat cover from West Marine. Designed for a 22ft Cuddy cabin boat it was a good fit once the pulpit and lifelines were removed, but no match for a New England winter. So out came the tape measure and we figured with some re-arrangements she would just fit inside our 23ft garage, but the trailer would not. See Trailer, boat stands etc page for information regarding getting the boat into the garage and off the trailer.
As yet a name for the boat is not decided, hence the
"What's-in-a-name"
reference above. We are very fortunate that she is not and never has been named, so we will avoid the bad luck and superstition associated with renaming a boat. As soon as we have a name I will be sure to let y'all know and get some pictures of the ceremonial naming ceremony posted here.
Update - April 18th, 2001
So much for the ideas of putting the boat in the garage over the winter so I could work on here. A long, bitterly cold winter have kept me out of the garage until this last few days. A 100yr high on the water table cost us a coiuple of weeks in dealing with a flooded basement - Where does all the time go ?
April 13th saw me start in earnest on the trailer. Completing this will allow us to get the boat back outside on the trailer and free up the space in the garage for off-boat project work, until I can get my basement workshop back in order.
See Trailer page for updates on the trailer rennovation.
Update - April 25th, 2001
We did get a new tow vehicle. The Tacoma is great, but not very secure for leaving in parking lots etc due to the open pick up bed, also passengers are limited to driver and 1 other. So we got a new 4WD tow vehicle (see pic) - How I managed to justify this I don't know ....... Below are picures of old and new tow vehicles....
Links to pages containing current projects, changes and modifications :
to this site.
Version : 1.03 | Updated: January 5, 2001
Mark.Wilme@usa.net
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