What a crazy week. I arrived in Nice France after a cancelled flight out of JFK, long night in a shady hotel,
missed connection in London the next evening (after being rerouted through London instead of Madrid),
lost bags in Nice. Checked into the hotel,
had a nap, ate a pizza and promptly broke a premolar all the way to the roots cracking down on a hidden
caper berry, which provided for some interesting eating and a lot of pain for the next 10 days (when it got yanked
back in the States). Thank God things got better. Much, much, much better.
Because 24 hours after arrival I was standing on our new home for the next 5 years. In my experience,
it can take years and looking at hundreds and hundreds of boats to find the right one, and then there’s still
always a compromise. But I’d spent about 30 seconds onboard and knew we’d found our boat. And it just kept getting
better. Brand new engines, top of the line equipment, not a spec of dirt anywhere. Smart installations,
tons of storage for all our toys. She just had everything right. And to top it all off- her name is “Discovery”.
We’d been trying to think of a name for months, but nothing we came up with beats Discovery. So…the glove just
fit perfectly.
The next big step in a purchase of an ocean-going craft is a very in-depth survey and sea trial. This is an
exorbitantly expensive procedure (especially in Europe!) whereby we lift the boat out of the water and have a certified
pro go over every nook and cranny of the boat. Needless to say, I was not at all surprised that he found very little.
As we’ll be covering some ground before we get another opportunity to haul Discovery I had the yard clean her hulls
and add a couple coats of antifouling paint.
My next log will be written from the inside of Discovery, as we begin our passage from Italy to Trinidad- 1,000
miles out of the Med, another 600 down to Lanzarote in the Canaries where we’ll spend Christmas, then 2600 across to the
Caribbean.
Can’t think of a better way to get to know our new baby.
This is how dreams come to life )))