June 2015 Decision made, offer accepted.Survey is scheduled for June 25, 26. First we will haul the boat from it's protective covering for over 2 years. The protective covering is not a tarp but a large barn on the owner's property in Appleton, Me. The survey will first be done on land and then Puffin is transported by Drinkwater Boat Transport to Rockport harbor, Maine for an on-water survey. Alan Drinkwater was chosen because he is the only driver the former owner trusts to extract the boat through the tight confines of the barn door. The trailer literally drags on the ground as the boat exits.
Once in the water, masts stepped, sails on and covered, a pretty
sight. Now for a few preparatory steps for the trip to Massachusetts, roughly
140 nautical miles. Take care of any operational details mentioned in the
survey, condition the diesel fuel which sat for 2 plus years in storage and top
of the tanks, stock the galley and we're ready to go.
Scott, our broker and a seasoned sailor, graciously volunteered to make the
journey with me. So as to arrive in daylight and meet prior commitments for the
day, we began our voyage south around 4:30pm. Clearing the Islands of Metinic
an Monhegan, we set a course for Nun "2" off Thacher Island, Cape
Ann, Massachusetts then steered a more westerly course into Salem Harbor where
Puffin would spend the summer. About 22 hours later we were on our mooring,
awaiting a pickup by the Hawthorn Cove Marina launch. Unfortunately, no lessons
in sailing were to be garnered as the wind was on our nose the whole trip so we
motored.
