May 16 - Success!

* CLICK ON PICTURES FOR A LARGER VIEW*

After much discussion the night before, we decided to give it a try early Friday morning. We changed our flight reservations to stay an extra day. It seems like the weather gods were happy and the wind and rain that was in the forecast didn't happen, so we were up early to get the boat launched.

The straps were put on and the the launching was underway. It was very scary to see this 70,000 lb boat being lifted high above the boat yard, and then lowered back down into the water.













We were all holding our breath until it was finally in the water.

After the launch, we powered her over to Mr. Noyes private dock to meet with Captain Norm, the boat Surveyor. Once he was aboard, off we went on the sea trial . The boat performed great, and everything worked, and Capt. Norm gave her the thumbs up! So, it looks like WE HAVE OUR BOAT!!

While Norm was surveying, Mr. Noyes was showing Wayne all the in's and outs of the boat. It's all a bit overwhelming, but very fun and exciting.


Geoffrey Noyes invited Wayne along on a trip next month, to bring his new 50' yacht from Key Largo Florida all the way up to Marblehead next month. Wayne will tag along, and it will be great experience for him because this is the route (reversed) that we will take this Fall.


We are flying home this afternoon. Boo hoo... Wayne to Baja, and me to Seattle for a bit of work. We will be in Baja finishing up all the odds and ends through June, while some electronic goodies are installed on the boat "My Sharona". We are expecting to return to her and start our journey for good around July 1st 2008.

Here she sits, waiting for her new owners to take her on new adventures..

Best Laid Plans.....

Today was to be the day we put the boat in the water. Was is the key word. It looks like we will not be able to get her in the water on this trip at all. Mother Nature is foiling our plans... Although the wind calmed down today, there was still too big of a surge to launch the boat. The boat weighs almost 70,000 lbs, and they will lift her up with a big crane. Like this one launching a sail boat. Anyway... when they lower it into the water, it needs to be calm so that it doesn't strain the crane. So... no launch-ie today.

Tomorrow's forecast looks ok, but they are now calling for another Nor-Easter on Friday. Can you say B.U.M.M.E.R?

The boat was uncovered today, so we got our first look at the hull color and exterior of her. Very exciting...

We did have a good day. Met with the electronics guru. We are adding a weather station, extra GPS for the flybridge, and a few other goodies.

We spent some time on the boat looking everything over and finding out what we will need . Wayne spent hours in the Engine room checking every nook and cranny. I spent my time in the pilot house looking over the charts and cruising books of the area.

Mr. Noyes came by in the afternoon and showed Wayne around the boat a bit. We heard some of his boating stories - he has many - and also talked with him about our plans. We also found out that ~NEWS FLASH~ we will NOT be keeping the name "Tioga Too" for our boat... The Tioga name has been in his family for almost 100 years, and it just isn't possible. Wayne asked if Mr. Noyes would adopt us so we could keep the name, but he wouldn't go for that.

Oh Well... I guess we will just have to make our own history on the "My Sharona".

We ended the day with a stroll around town, and then a excellent dinner at the Yacht Club. There was a sailboat race going on so the club was full. And lots to see.



Tomorrow we will meet with the Surveyor and go over what will happen when the boat is launched and surveyed while we are gone.
(boo hoo) :(

May 13, 2008 - Marblehead, MA

Hello, and greetings from Beautiful Marblehead , MA. Where we will start a new blog to track and share our new Adventure on The Tioga Too... Our beautiful new Trawler that we will live aboard for the next few years.

We are at the Boston Yacht Club in Marblehead this week to be on hand for the yachts sea trial and survey. This is where the experts go over everything mechanical on the boat and motors to check if all is in good shape.

We arrived this morning after a "all nighter" flight from Seattle. After a quick nap, we went to visit Tioga Too and met the original owner, Bradley Noyes for the first time. Mr. Noyes is a spry 80ish year old sea dog, with an amazing background in the boating/sailing industry. He and his son Jeffrey were deep in the engine room when we arrived, changing the engine zincs, and doing all the necessary work to launch her (hopefully tomorrow) after the winter season "on the hard". The plan was to launch today, but a good old fashioned Nor-Easter blew in and they put it off until tomorrow. Too bad the water is cold, and we didn't have our kites, but it was blowing . This evening the wind is dying down and we are in for a beautiful sunset.

Here is our new baby, sitting at the boat yard, waiting for the crane to put her back on the water, and a view of the boatyard and crane


So... hopefully tomorrow we will have her uncovered and in the water and I will report back on how the Sea Trial and Survey went.

Please bookmark this Blog (webpage) and check back with us often, and we will try to keep you up to date with our travels.

I will post more photos on our original website: http://web.mac.com/sharonabaja

Thanks for checking in on us.... We will be in touch soon.