Cool Change Sailing

After beginning the search for the ideal sailboat for my upcoming sailing adventure, after 2 1/2 years, I finally discovered the perfect sailboat in Connecticut! It is a 2001 Bavaria 40′ sloop that has been used so sparingly in the past 21 years, many features of the boat appear to still be brand new.

Everything from the sails, the engine, anchor, leather seat upholstery, galley, and storage lockers still look so new, it’s like this boat had remained in some kind of time-bubble for 21 years. And the reason is obvious. The owner purchased it brand new in 2001, but he preferred to enjoy the boat on weekends, treating it like his “summer cottage” while docked on the Hudson River in New York. Each weekend, he and his wife would arrive at the dock, spend time wiping down surfaces and keeping it spotlessly clean, then return home, having never even untied it to go sailing!

As I’ve been searching for boats, I learned what to expect on a 20+ year old boat regarding sail condition, fabric deterioration on the seating, engine hours (usually upwards of 4,000 to 6,000 by this point) and overall expected maintenance requirements, allowing me to set aside additional funds for those budgeted items. My search took me to many cities from the Midwest to the East Coast, traveling multiple times to Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, the Chesapeake Bay and Annapolis, MD, trying to find the ideal boat, but none of the others were in a condition worthy of becoming a live-aboard boat, all year long.

When I discovered this sailboat and learned that the engine had a grand total of 150 hours on it…less than what would typically be found in the first summer of sailing…I knew I’d found an impossible jewel. I made and offer to buy it before I’d ever driven to CT to even see it! But, last week, I did drive to CT and viewed the boat first hand. It did not disappoint. I am anxious to bring it home and begin to prepare it for the necessary additions I’ll need go anywhere and have Internet access everywhere I travel.

We are under contract to take ownership of it later this month, on January 25th, with its delivery to western Lake Erie later this year in late March or early April. The current owner already paid to have it winterized and stored for the entire season, so he’s allowing us to postpone the sea trial until later this year, just prior to shipping it home.

The journey, while not having “officially” begun, in fact has begun. The first step–buying the best boat–has been checked off the list.