Drift Away Has Been Sold

They say that the happiest two days in a boat owner's life is the day he buys his boat and  the day he sells it.  I'm here to tell you that isn't true.

When we first bought Drift Away, it was with trepidation and a sense of dread.  We knew the boat needed a lot of work, mainly due to being unused for over twenty years.  But as we tackled each boat project, we became more and more familiar with the boat and our hope that we would make Drift Away into a cruiser again soared.

We have so many fond memories of our trip.  Cruising the East River to the Hudson from Stamford.  Up the Hudson, dodging debris in the water from a hurricane that passed a couple of weeks earlier.  A warm wedding reception at the Castleton Boat Club.  I could go on and on, but you get the idea.  Besides, it  is all in the blog.

I think we enjoyed the people we met along the way the most, especially our cruising friends at Isle of Hope Marina in Savannah and at Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, Georgia.  I  won't name them, at the risk of forgetting someone, but you know who you are.

I also appreciate all of you blog followers who lived vicariously through us, enjoying our adventures and misadventures, and sharing many a victory beer.  We also have victory beers on Bleecker Mountain, but somehow it is not quite the same.

Of course, I need to thank Kent Boatguy and the Black  Duck R&D Center for all those Navi-Nuts (patent pending), Rick LaPorte, MarkJ, Brigantine, Captain Jim and the Blonde, Bill K, Bob Taylor, Bob Mayo, Rick-Deb-and Izzy, Kevin in Ashland, Jan and David, and many many more.  Your comments always made my day, either by making me laugh or offering advice, or sometimes just playing along with the running gags.  It is nowhere near as interesting, since it doesn't involve cruising, but Bleecker Mountain Life is a bit different from normal (whatever normal is, it isn't Bleecker).

We also enjoyed the scenery along the way, and the differences between the north and  the south.  We distinctly remember our first palm tree, in North Carolina.   Our favorite cities?  Easy.  Beaufort, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia.  Our favorite beach is the Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island.

We put Drift Away on the hard in Green Cove Springs, Florida.  It was for sale, but we weren't in too much of a rush to sell.  We were planning on building in Bleecker and I knew that would have to take precedence.  But after my accident last year,  I knew I wouldn't be the same on the boat.  I wouldn't be able to do some of the things I did before, like handling dock lines and running around the deck.  And then Pamela started working at the Griffin Ranch in Fort McCoy, Florida, a dream job for her, and I knew our course had changed for good.  It  was time to sell.

I had people clamoring to look at the boat, and two brokers told me that it received the greatest number of hits on their websites.  But most of the offers that came in were too low.  Finally, I decided to sell Drift Away to a couple from St. Augustine who offered my rock bottom price.

Once we got the dirty fuel issues sorted out, Drift Away performed flawlessly all the way from Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey to Jacksonville, Florida.  It provided us with an exciting adventure and introduced us to an alternative way of life, as well as dozens of new friends.  Pam and I have memories to last a lifetime, and photos to keep those memories alive.

There's plenty of work left to do on Drift Away, but at this point it is mostly all cosmetic.  If the new owners are handy, they got a great deal.  If not, they bought it at a price that they can pay painters and carpenters to finish what needs to be done.

As Pam and I left Drift Away for the last time a few weeks ago, we were both a little teary eyed, and shared a hug.  No, it was definitely not one of the happiest days of my life.

So what's next?  We thought we had a plan, but at this point we don't know.  I'm not only still suffering from the effects of my accident last summer, but some things are getting worse.  It will be hard to build a summer place when I can't swing a hammer or lift more than a pound or so.  So its off to a string of doctor visits for me.  This summer, things might be on hold in Bleecker.

So I'm putting this blog to bed.  I'll keep it up for the few nuggets of wisdom it contains and I hope those of you who stumble in here find it useful, or funny, or enjoy the photos, or all of the above.

It is time to swallow the anchor.