After quite a wild, rollercoaster-of-emotions ride leading up to closing on our new-to-us boat, to say we were thankful to have closing done and over with would have been a severe understatement!  It seemed like the 5-hour drive to Deltaville, VA took an absolute eternity on Friday, 3/29/2019 as we kept counting down the hours then minutes until we would be able to board the boat that we just closed on.

We finally arrived at the marina shortly before midnight and realized we hadn’t asked where the boat was docked at the marina.  Cue a 20-minute sneak-around-the-marina-with-cell-phones-as-flashlights expedition and we finally found her, peacefully hanging out on C-Dock, seemingly waiting for us to show up.  We quickly found the keys and let ourselves in to enjoy what would be our first night aboard our boat!  How freakin’ cool?!

Despite being beyond exhausted, we started exploring cabinets and drawers right away.  That was, until we nearly fell asleep sitting up!  Well after 1am, we decided to call it a night and we slept the sleep of the dead Friday night – thoroughly used up, but completely content.

One of the things Josh was really looking forward to about owning our own boat was being able to have coffee in the mornings in the cockpit.  Some of his dreams came true Saturday morning, as he sat in the cockpit, sipping his french-press coffee, perusing Chesapeake Bay charts.  (I’m still waiting on the cockpit cocktails that I am really looking forward to, but, we’ll get there soon, I hope!)

After a beautiful sunrise and coffee in the cockpit, we got to work, cleaning, sorting and familiarizing ourselves with the boat’s contents and systems.  Since we planned to move the boat the following weekend, it was really important to us to have a good handle on what was on the boat and how the systems functioned.  We also needed to replace some fire extinguishers and get some other safety equipment sorted out so we’d be prepared for our maiden voyage.

Around 9am, we were down below, sorting and cleaning, when a man called out, “Good morning, Fandango!” from up above.  We went out to the cockpit and were greeted by our boat’s previous owner, Andy.  Andy had graciously taken time out of his day to spend a few hours with us on the boat, walking us through things and showing us some of her quirks.  I took a TON of invaluable notes, and, in hindsight, should have asked to video most of what he was telling us so we could keep going back to it.  (We’ve had a lot of “remember what Andy said about that” moments since then!)  We are so, SO thankful that Andy took the time to spend a few hours with us on Saturday morning.  His pride in the boat that he turned over to us was absolutely evident in the care he took of her while he owned her for 15 years.  And, having Andy’s help has really made us feel much more confident in both the boat and our understanding of the boat.  (Andy, if you’re reading this, THANK YOU!  Thank you for spending time with us and thank you for trusting us with the boat that you so clearly loved.  When we said that you are always welcome aboard, we meant it!  We hope that you get some enjoyment out of our plan and our journey.)

After spending a few hours with Andy (and getting a bit choked up by his kindness), we headed back down below to finish sorting, cleaning and preparing her for our journey from Deltaville, VA to Kent Island, MD the next weekend.

After doing years of research and reading about being owner’s, we were pretty prepared to start confronting boat work tasks.  It’s a good thing, because on day three of owning a boat, Josh started chasing down a water leak that was causing the water pump to run pretty continuously.  A new galley faucet and we should be in good shape.  For now, at least.

The first weekend on the boat was a busy one!  There weren’t even any cockpit cocktails!  But, it was a great weekend and we left the marina on Sunday, feeling confident and prepared to make the 85 nautical mile journey to the boat’s new marina home in just a few short days.