Aurora is a 51' Hylas. A classic sailing ship built in 1990. She is "beamy", which Ken assures me means that she will be a comfortable cruiser. She is beautiful but in need of a lot of love and care. (So far two females in need of TLC!). Fiberglass hull, lots of wood below which gives you a wonderful feeling of warmth and ageless beauty. We bought her nearly a year ago and have dedicated the past months to getting her refit and ready for sailing the Caribbean. The folks at BVI yacht sales have proved that they don't just sell yachts...they become part of the ongoing adventure. Spending a year at Nanny Cay was about more than refitting a boat...it was a time to get to know the wonderful people of Tortola, the gifted experts who care for your boat and get it ready to brave the ocean. We had the best team imaginable so we give thanks to Clive, Karen, Dave, Eldred, Edrid, Alfred, Derrick, Keith, and Doyle Sails.
The plan is to sail the Caribbean this winter (2016) and get to know Aurora and our sailing skills (mine are negligible, can't swim, can't tread water, took an intensive week long sailing course but that does not a sailor make). Then take the boat to Jamestown RI for summer 2016. In 2017 we plan to set sail for far flung destinations world wide. So that's the plan...but this is an adventure so we shall see what actually transpires.
It's a bucket list thing for me. I'm Ken. I feel really good at the helm of a sailboat - but have spent little time in that sweet spot as lack of time and cost have been major impediments. I dealt with the cost factor until now using others peoples equipment - when they were foolish enough to invite me along for a ride or lend me their toy and mastered the time factor by retiring last year. Some good friends, Tom & Doreen bought me a years subscription to Cruising World as a gag (really?) retirement gift... and I, laying in bed one late February 2015 evening, reading the boat classified adds, found what I thought was a misprint - a Hylas 51' for for $125K. I called the broker in Tortola the next morning and he indicated it was no misprint and no - she was not sitting on the bottom.
I had previously reduced our lives to a spread sheet to see what if anything we could spend on a boat and a trip to put it in - which is kind of sad - reducing our lives to a spread sheet, that is. But on the happy side of spread sheets you can keep tweaking them until they tell you what you want to hear. I tweaked ours until it "said" buy a boat. So we were off to Tortola the next day, on sea trials as well as getting the boat surveyed the day after, and made an offer which was accepted the day after that.
The survey report indicated it would take $100K to refit the boat to render it safe and seaworthy and I thought no way - I'll do it for much less. It has taken 11 months, 10 trips to Nanny Cay (the boats home in Tortola since 2009) about 50 days of my own time and a team of contractors to get the old girl back into shape and yes, $100K is what the refit has cost.
Tomorrow is the big day when the boat yard will convert our funny looking "tree house" with a wonderful view of the teasingly (a word?), beckoning Caribbean turquoise waters (as we have been living on the boat (to save on hotel bills) which is up on boat jacks - meaning we must climb a 10 foot ladder to get on board) - by splashing her. Even though her anchor chain is a big knot of rust laying off her bow and there is some sort of huge short in the main engine battery circuit the yard thinks she will float, and I hope they are right. Then we will start checking what we think we fixed over the past 11 months. That's the part where I get to use a good deal of flowery language and unhelpful body language to expedite the effort to the point when the fun can begin...
It's a bucket list thing for me. I'm Ken. I feel really good at the helm of a sailboat - but have spent little time in that sweet spot as lack of time and cost have been major impediments. I dealt with the cost factor until now using others peoples equipment - when they were foolish enough to invite me along for a ride or lend me their toy and mastered the time factor by retiring last year. Some good friends, Tom & Doreen bought me a years subscription to Cruising World as a gag (really?) retirement gift... and I, laying in bed one late February 2015 evening, reading the boat classified adds, found what I thought was a misprint - a Hylas 51' for for $125K. I called the broker in Tortola the next morning and he indicated it was no misprint and no - she was not sitting on the bottom.
I had previously reduced our lives to a spread sheet to see what if anything we could spend on a boat and a trip to put it in - which is kind of sad - reducing our lives to a spread sheet, that is. But on the happy side of spread sheets you can keep tweaking them until they tell you what you want to hear. I tweaked ours until it "said" buy a boat. So we were off to Tortola the next day, on sea trials as well as getting the boat surveyed the day after, and made an offer which was accepted the day after that.
The survey report indicated it would take $100K to refit the boat to render it safe and seaworthy and I thought no way - I'll do it for much less. It has taken 11 months, 10 trips to Nanny Cay (the boats home in Tortola since 2009) about 50 days of my own time and a team of contractors to get the old girl back into shape and yes, $100K is what the refit has cost.
Tomorrow is the big day when the boat yard will convert our funny looking "tree house" with a wonderful view of the teasingly (a word?), beckoning Caribbean turquoise waters (as we have been living on the boat (to save on hotel bills) which is up on boat jacks - meaning we must climb a 10 foot ladder to get on board) - by splashing her. Even though her anchor chain is a big knot of rust laying off her bow and there is some sort of huge short in the main engine battery circuit the yard thinks she will float, and I hope they are right. Then we will start checking what we think we fixed over the past 11 months. That's the part where I get to use a good deal of flowery language and unhelpful body language to expedite the effort to the point when the fun can begin...
Hello,
ReplyDeleteWe are a couple with a Hylas 49. We have signed up for World ARC 2019. We are following your journey. Any advice for us to prepare? if you get a chance, please respond adventuresonhope@gmail.com