The big day, the reason we came to St Maarten, starts early. 6am and I am glad I can get up. Been awake for a bit. Too excited to sleep. I take a quick dip in the pool, then get ready. We have breakfast in our mini kitchen and are off by 7:30. Jeff will pick us up with the dingy at 8.
The boat is on a mooring in St Maarten’s big landlocked lagoon. We are soon joined by Tony, the broker, and David, the marine surveyor we hired. He gets busy on the boat, taking pics, checking each piece of equipment and opening up every nook and cranny. Of which there are many on a sailboat.
We try to stay out of his way. David, a very fun guy from French Sint Martin with the cutest twinkle in his eyes, is a man on a mission. Done hundreds of these and knows where to look.
Jeff and I use the time to start tne knowledge transfer process from current to future skipper. The engine, the generator, the water maker, the AC, the fridge, the electronic navigation, and on and on. How to haul up the dingy on the stern davits, service the outboard, avoid a jam when furling the mainsail,…. I am drinking from a fire hose. But Jeff is patient with a huge smile on his face. Lynne in the meantime does the same with Karin with a heavy focus on life afloat: galley and storage and what and where the hundreds of pieces of gear that come with the boat are. They love this boat and it shows in how they have taken care of her. It’s inspiring. And they are just so wonderful and generous with us. We really, really like them. 
There are two opening bridges we need to pass through to get on the open ocean. We find top sailing conditions, sun and dark blue water and 20 knots of wind. The boat comes alive under us and soon I get to take the helm. She sails different from Towanda. Her weight and hull design give her much more stability; she doesn’t bash into the waves, gracefully on her side slicing through them with a gentle up and down motion. Wonderful. You can feel this boat was built for the high seas.
We try the different sails, just for an hour before we have to head back to catch the 11:30a bridge opening and get back into the lagoon and head straight for the boat yard. They are already waiting for us with the big boat lift and quickly haul her out to allow David to survey the underwater sections. While he does, we have lunch – and a very tasty one at that.
We’re back in the water by 3 and make the second bridge at 3:30 and back to our mooring by 4, ready to clean up.
Throughout the day David, the surveyor, keeps conspiratorially pulling me aside, always with that smile and twinkle, to share with me what problems he has found so far. Lots of little stuff that you’d expect to see in a boat of this age. But nothing really major. He promises his full written report by tomorrow but lets us know that there won’t be any surprises.
We breathe a sigh of relief. This boat seems almost too perfect. So I have been nervous about some real deeper issues cropping up. But it sound like that’s not the case and she is “clean”. Wow!
Happy, tired, and a little sweaty Karin and I leave the boat. After a quick drink and a swim and shower we head for exceptionally good Thai dinner (thank you Jeff & Lynne) and talk it all over.
Are we really going to do this?
