My daughter had just graduated from college, so she and I took the first road trip to Connecticut to check out the boat. I took hundreds of close up pictures to show Don, but as soon as I stepped foot on the deck I knew we had found a gem. Don and I returned to Pawcatuck the following week, and he fell in love with the vessel just as I had. We scheduled the survey, launch and sea trial for Memorial Day weekend. A third road trip to Connecticut in a month was not something I was looking forward to, but we did enjoy some fantastic sea food. The survey turned up some issues with equipment, but nothing we couldn’t deal with. The hull was sound, the engine was in good shape, and the sails were new. She was seaworthy and provided us with lots of opportunities to learn her mechanics.
Having a certified captain aboard durung the sea trial was required by the seller.  We had some trouble scheduling the captain that was recommended, and so settled on Jay, who owned the marina where the boat was being stored. We were warned that he wasn’t a sailor, but we really just needed someone to navigate us down the river. The day of the sea trial dawned with thick fog. Our schedule was tight as we had planned on returning to Ohio that afternoon. Things began to clear by noon so Jay gave us the go ahead and expertly motored us out to sea. The closer we got to the mouth of the river, the thicker the fog got. Once in open water, visibility was about the length of our boat. But Jay grew up on this river and could have navigated it blindfolded. We were so thankful we had hired a pilot with the skills to do exactly what we needed for the sea trial - keep us from running aground!
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Copyright © 2007 Diana W Mulroy - SV Re Metau.  All rights reserved.