I have tried at a couple of places here in France to charter a boat, but everyplace so far has said that they only will charter with a captain, and we don’t want that. Roberta has sandbagged me a bit, thinking of any excuse to go anywhere except a marina to look at rental boats. She says “I like our boat, and really don’t like the idea of being on a strange boat.” Corsica is only 80 miles away, and I’d like to cruise there, but there’s no way I can talk her into it. If we were seriously searching, we would find a boat in a day. I do think I’ll convince her to let me rent something for a day or two, but any serious cruising is out the window. I’m not completely sure I understand her issues. Normally, she is the adventurous member of the family.
Meanwhile, our boat is still stuck in Costa Rica, but getting very close to coming home. I’m now getting daily reports from the freighter that will load Sans Souci on Sept 6th for transport to Victoria Canada. Yesterday, I received a copy of the insurance binder from Lloyds, so it appears that we really will get picked up this time. When the boat gets to Seattle, I have reserved a slip for it, at Salmon Bay Marine Center, where we’ll probably wind up living on the boat for most of October and November. We’re “simplifying” our lives by moving to a little condo in downtown Seattle, which is still under construction. Our assumption is that we’ll be on the boat at least six months a year over the next decade, so it doesn’t make sense to have a house.
Meanwhile, we’re getting ready for next year’s cruising. I ordered a new generator for the boat; a 20kw to replace our existing 16kw. The two generators are exactly the same size, and the 16kw has felt a little too small. It is now sitting in Seattle waiting for the boat to arrive. I also have a new tender that has been sitting since May in Seattle waiting on the boat to arrive.
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Lastly, we had dinner in the Port of Beaulieu last night. It’s where our first Nordhavn had a slip for four years. We were very nostalgic. Although most memories are positive, we shall never forget our last couple of days at the port. On Sept 9th, 2001, Roberta’s parents were on board, and it had been a very hot evening. I awoke early in the morning, as I always do, to go to my computer. As I entered the salon, I noticed my computer wasn’t on the dining room table. This confused me, until I noticed the tv was missing. And, the DVD player, and my camera. We had been robbed! Then I noticed one of our own LARGE butcher knives that someone had gotten out and left on the counter, and the fear set in. I immediately worried about Roberta’s parents, and ran to verify that they were ok. They were sound asleep, with earplugs, and I pounded on their door for a while before they woke up. I was very happy to see them! Everyone was fine, and I now understood why our dogs were barking in the middle of the night! I spent the rest of the morning trying to convince the french authorities to investigate, but they had zero interest. In a way, it was our own fault. I had accidentally left a pilot house door open.
And, as you know, Sept 11th 2001 is a day no one shall forget. We were shopping in Monaco, after having dropped Roberta’s parents at the airport for their flight home. I noticed people gathering around televisions, and when I realized what was happening we rushed back to the boat. We spent the rest of the day trying to track down Roberta’s parents, who wound up landing in Canada (although British Air thought their plane had landed in Scotland). We decided to end the trip and come home, but couldn’t fly for several days, so we drove cross country to Normandy…
We decided to sell the boat slip.
-Ken W