Thursday, February 28, 2013

Fair Winds Stella Blue!

Big changes are happening with Stella Blue. We sold our house in Utah in late January and traveled down to Stella Blue where she was on the hard in Florida. 

We had accepted a deposit to sell Stella Blue to a great couple, Logan and Gillian, from San Francisco. We wanted to have her looking perfect for them, just as we would like, so we spent two weeks knee deep in fun boat projects. The tasks included; refinishing all exterior teak, installing a new maserator pump, wax & buff the hull, two coats of bottom paint and testing/cleaning all the systems. We wanted the boat to be fairly "turn key" for the new owners. The end result was a clean bill of health from the Surveyor and that was it, Stella Blue was passed along to her new stewards for their adventures. A bitter sweet day for us but we knew that the day had to come as we needed more room and tankage.

Molly, Kala and I have now turned the page on a new chapter and have been spending the last few weeks sofa-surfing with generous friends and relatives as well as camping in the Sportsmobile while we look for a new boat... a/k/a adventure platform.

After driving over 5000 miles, looking at countless boats and making a few offers, we now have a contract on an incredible Valiant 47. The survey is next week and we're optimistic that this is the boat for us. We hope to be able to make it to the BVIs this season so stay tuned for updates at the new blog: Sailing Terrapin


All our worldly possessions in one place... on the hard in Florida.

Stripping the toe rail of Cetol to prep for 9 coats of nice varnish.

Deck teak stripped and prepped for varnish
When you replace the poo-blender, remember to double glove!

Stella Blue in the slings for the survey.

It wasn't all work in Port Charlotte. Kala and Molly enjoy the escape from the cold Utah winter.
Congrats to Logan & Gillian!