Game On!
All righty then. We took the field trip down to Raymond yesterday (surprisingly, it's actually on the big US map on the wall here... but I think mostly for lack of anything else in the entire region that would outshine it.) It's roughly a two-hour drive, and aside from the occasional nasty rain squalls that lasted for an average of twenty minutes each (followed by twenty minutes of glaring sunshine), it was a lovely trek down.
We met with the man selling this boat, who manufactures catamarans for a living. He's an entertainingly crotchety old guy, who has clearly been on or around the water from roughly ten seconds after the umbilical cord was cut. Between his random information and the guy who did the survey on the first boat, I think we've now got more names and information that could be useful for re-surfacing the Titanic, let alone just dealing with a thirty year-old houseboat that's still afloat. Of course, half of our new contacts are only known by their first names (such as "my buddy Mike down at the marina on Lake Union... go talk to him," or "you know Steve at Butterfly Marine, well he told me the other day...") Anyway, he showed us the two Cruise-A-Homes they had there, both already out of the water and on blocks. The newer (1979) one was in the process of getting polished up and repainted, while the 1975 one had already been mostly dealt with, other than a final coat of paint. Plus, did I mention that it was like 40% cheaper than the first boat we were looking at? SOLD!
So here we go again with the pictures (and sorry there's a lot of them this time, but we've just got to show off a bit...)
Das Boat in profile (note the lovely racing stripes on the hull...)
The back entrance, leading to the "private stateroom" (private if you don't consider that it's also the main entrance to the interior...)
Looking forward toward the helm, with the galley area to the right
Looking back from the helm toward the master suite, with the seller's cat dropping by to show us how Delia might manage on board
Kristin being rescued from the comforter
Peeking at the fixtures in the head
Yes, I'm a dork.
Thankfully, I'm not alone there.
Checking out the upper patio area.
Peeking in the front windows from the forward deck.
The forward starboard underside of the boat. We need to do a bit more polishing down here before we take her.
The transom, looking the length of the main interior hallway.
The propellers, and an area still needing its final coat of paint. This is the one other main area of work that needs to be done before we put the boat in the water. Some of the screws need to be removed and sealant applied where the dive platform meets the hull, just above the propellors and rudders.
That's all for now! We'll have more pictures after we head back down in a few weekends' time to do the final exterior work, and then at some point after May 1 it'll be hauled up to Lake Union, plunked back in the water, and we'll cruise it over to our new home. Whee!
Comments
The Boat looks great, Lots of Luck with it
Posted by: Barry Donovan | April 5, 2005 5:40 PM
I loooooooooooooooove the boat!!!!
Posted by: the octopus of looooove | April 8, 2005 4:19 PM
Can't wait to see it - it'll be an interesting adventure!
Posted by: Mom | April 23, 2005 5:00 PM
Good luck to the two of you with it! It should be a wonderful adventure and a real experience. With close quaters like that you two will certianly get to really know each other.... Good Luck and enjoy it.
Posted by: Uncle Jerry & Patrick | April 25, 2005 10:14 AM