Taking Ownership

 Update November 24, 2024

Alot has happened since Liz and I took ownership of Navigator.  Taking ownership was exciting and emotional.    The sellers graciously gave us one last walk through - making sure we knew how to start the engine properly - and then stayed aboard while we took Navigator away from the dock for the first time.   Their willingness to do so gave us much needed confidence that handling the boat was within our skill set - but of course it was bitter sweet for them.  Navigator had been their home for several years and the love they have for her was apparent.  Thank you Marco and Karen for entrusting her to us.   

Liz and I had driven down to Gulf Shores from Maine for the closing.    We had filled the truck with sundries necessary to start our life aboard:  eating utensils, plates and bowls, pots and pans, sheets, pillows and blankets, USB chargers, etc. and that first evening after Marco and Karen left was spent unloading the truck and making the bed.  

 

We spent the next three days unpacking, grocery shopping, crawling through the boat and meeting our new neighbors at Homeport Marina.    A bonus was that LuLu's restaurant (situated right in the Marina) was having a Jimmy Buffet rendezvous "Meeting of the Minds" that weekend.  So we were serenaded by a continuous stream of live music from Thursday to Sunday!

On Sunday the 27th, we spread our wings for the first time taking a short overnight cruise.   We didn't want to become too attached at to the dock and knew we just needed to take Navigator out on our own.   So putting on our "Marriage Savers" [Bluetooth headset/intercom] we started up the engine & shortend the lines.    

Pulling out into the fairway we spun the boat around once and then executed a landing back at the dock.   I figured it was smarter to get that first solo landing under our belt right away.   We made a short cruise up Portage Creek (part of the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway) to the Alabama Florida border, then entered Wolf Bay.

We spent a pleasant evening at anchor in Hummock Bayou watching the sunset and seeing the dolphins play around the boat.

Returning to port we spent the next 3 days getting more organzised and running errands.   Publix, Walmart, Rouses and Costco (in Mobile).  And I spent more time crawling through the engine room learning all the systems.   Navigator is a bit more complicated than Taku!

If you hang around Gulf Shores and Pensacola for any length of time you hear about the Blue Angles.   And we had heard that they were having their final airshow of the season on Friday and Saturday - and that the best place to watch it was at Fort McRee.   So on Thursday morning we set sail and anchored at Ft McRee.   It was a pretty popular anchorage so we spent the night with several dozen other boats

 But in the morning - several hundred more boats arrived for the airshow!

Both the Thunderbirds (Air Force F-16's) and the Blue Angles (Navy F/A -18's) performed, but clearly the Blue Angles, on home turf, out performed the Thunderbirds.

We spent Thursday & Friday night anchored at Ft McRee but it became too crazy for us.   Too many boats, too much loud music, too much partying - so first thing Saturday we moved around the corner and anchored inside Spanish Point where it was not so crowded.   We knew about it because one of our Homeport marina neighbors - Chip and Pam - were anchored there on thier catamaran "Interstellar".   It was great to get to know them better - spent some time aboard Interestellar - and walking the beach together.

 

On Sunday we returned to Homeport and dug in for our last week before heading back to Maine.   Our final chance to get organized - run errands with the truck, etc.   Two of the tasks were cataloging and organizing the spare parts that Marco had left aboard and trying to figure out what to do about the electronics.   Marco and Karen had lived aboard Navigator during the pandemic and Marco had faced concerns about getting stuck somewhere after some mechanical failure and not being able to source a part.   So every chance he got, he collected spares.  There were 5 or 6 boxes of spares and I knew we couldn't carry all of them on our journey - and that I had to make some decisions.  Stuff we might need in the next 6 months, and carry the rest back to Maine in the truck.      

Meanwhile we talked about sending out upgrading the electronics.   The Raymarine system aboard was 16 years old - and not 100% functional anymore.   We had recognized this when we first looked at the boat and had allowed for the possibility of having to replace the system.  Fortunately Scott at West Marine put us onto a local who could.  What better time to do so?

On Monday November 11th (my daughter's Birthday) after 18 night on Navigator, we headed out for the long drive back to Maine, tired but vary happy.