The Second Best Day

Kathy & Joel, new owners of Scott Free (no new name yet)

The saying goes, "The two best days in a boat owners life is the day they buy the boat and the day they sell it!" The second day has come for us. Scott Free has been turned over to terrific new owners that will enjoy her and take care of her like we did. 

We got the word on July 21st that the out of the water survey was completed and luckily M Yachts were able to get a coat of paint on her and schedule a splash on Friday. Bob managed to get all parties to agree to a sea trial on Sunday July 25 at 8 AM. The surveyor Steve, prospective buyers Kathy and Joel, Bob and ourselves all joined up on board - it was already in the mid 80s and would climb to 98 by mid day. Luckily there was a bit of a breeze and some cloud cover in the morning. 

The in the water survey was very complicated and time consuming. We weren't able to head out to the Bay until Noon. There we took out the sails and performed engine trials. For one period of time we had the throttle all the way up with the bow up and the swim ladder down and in the water! It does 9.5 miles an hour and uses a lot of diesel doing it. 

But everything went smoothly. People were so busy that hardly anyone stopped to eat the pastries and coffee/soft drinks I provided. I offered to make sandwiches as well, but again no takers. We really enjoyed getting to know Kathy and Joel. It turns out that they are neighbors of my cousins the Richardsons in Mattapoisett, MA. Kathy, like myself, prefers to be at the wheel when docking and I got praise for my expertise in putting Scott Free back into her slip (for the last time). The sea trial was over at 3 PM and everyone headed home. We did too after enjoying a sandwich (finally) and cleaning up for the last time. We felt a little emotional leaving our much loved home for the last time, but there were no tears. The time had come!

The results of the survey came in the following week and Kathy and Joel accepted the boat on Friday July 29th. We have agreed to put $20,000 in escrow to pay for the work on the bottom due to the blisters found in the survey (the remainder will be returned to us). That will be done in the new owners boatyard at the end of the season. We expect a check for the rest at the end of the week, minus Bob's 10 percent. So this is the end of our cruising saga, but not of this blog. I've always included our other trips and family news, so that will continue!