We drove to Portland CT to do our inspection of a boat we love the looks and design of. We are under contract to buy her, contingent upon several things including today’s inspection.

Regretfully, we are going to pass on this boat. It simply won’t work for us. Reasons include:

• No seat for Shelly in the pilot house. No room to add one.
• No seat for me! No room to add one.
• Swim Ladder was totally inadequate for us.
• Too many stairs between stateroom and pilot house and salon.
• Fewer options for getting Shelly on and off the boat.
• No wipers on any of the windows of pilot house to clear rain and spray.
• The 12″ less beam compared to the Mainship 390’s 14’2″ was noticeable.
• No second guest stateroom.
• No A/C.
• No railings around the perimeter of the bulwark/gunnels.

The character and features of this boat were/are hard to walk away from. The mast/boom/davit and dinghy system w/ outboard were significant value-adds. The engine/propulsion system appears to be strong, as does the genset.

Tough day for us. But we move on.

We have been studying the Mainship 390 boats on the market. But the Lord Nelson Victory Tugs have gotten our attention. We’ll see!

Yes

• We decided to stay home and simply research our next possible boat. Just too hot out there today even with the breeze.

I got up to see the sunrise and to see the ISS fly over.

It was clearly visible for the middle three minutes of this six minute pass.

Here is Precious Cargo tied up behind us on the S-Dock as the sun comes up.

Last evening, former dock mates Steve and Tina Romano, and Marc joined us for the annual Marine Max BBQ then we hung out on the dock just like old times.

Jupiter was living large next to a near full moon.

After climbing around the Mainship 390 we decided to see if we could navigate to Jordan’s Lobster Farm on the water near Long Beach. It was easier to find by boat compared to by car! But it was fresh and good seafood. Our first lobster of this season. Ray needs another hat. (Hats with an embroidered lobster on them are a particular weakness.)

Jordan’s website

Our first time aboard a boat that I have been studying since December was Friday July 5.

The most amazing thing we discovered as we arrived at the rendevous point was that we knew the seller! Tommy from the Sheepshead Bay Yacht Club, whom we befriended on our vacation in June 2018, and who is pictured in our blog (twice) was the seller who met us at the gate, to let us in to view this boat he had for sale!

7.5 million people live on this island, we haven’t lived here 4 years yet. Yet, a boat that I have been researching for six months, that we travelled to Brooklyn to see today is being sold by someone we know! … that we met on our cruising adventures!

Waking up on the hook is my favorite. On the ocean at sunrise is daily the most beautiful place to be. It’s always different … even if in the same place.

This morning we can’t see anything – a thick fog surrounds us. Yet it is magic. Oh for sure, everything we left out in the cockpit is totally soaked by a heavy dew! But it’s still awesome to take it all in … even the sounds all around us. Birds are sounding their notes, fish jump, the occasional lost fly buzzes by.

What I love about this spot, just north of Fox Island in Great South Bay, is vehicular traffic is a distant barely audible din. We are not near any roadways! This reminds me of waking up at Shellerina’s Rock in Harrison Maine. It is not easy to find a place like this here on Long Island.

It’s finally starting to lift now. It will burn off.

The transition is always a remarkable thing to witness.