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Sept. 30 – Eau Gallie, FL

By Trawlers on October 1, 2014 in The Pearl

Eau Gallie Yacht Basin

“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love…” ―Marcus Aurelius

Today our travels took us through a rural area of the east coast of Florida, down the Indian River, across Mosquito Lagoon and the through the Haulover Canal. The theme today was wildlife. As soon as we left the marina we watched a school of Tarpon jumping and feeding on something. Within moments of watching the fish we spotted manatees and dolphins. The dolphins entertained us all day…in all our travels we’ve seen a lot dolphins but I think they were more abundant and active today then they have ever been.

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Sept. 29 – New Smyrna Beach, FL

By Trawlers on September 30, 2014 in The Pearl

New Smyrna Beach City Marina

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”―Vivian Greene

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Sept. 28 – St. Augustine, FL

By Trawlers on September 29, 2014 in The Pearl

Marineland Marina

“There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.” – Joseph Conrad

We had a beautiful uneventful day on the water with relatively little boat traffic for a Sunday. The highlight of our day was spotting three bald eagles during our first hour on the water.

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Sept. 27 – Jacksonville Beach, FL

By Trawlers on September 28, 2014 in The Pearl

Beach Marine

We woke to a cloudy misty very windy day, but here in Florida it doesn’t seem to last long. One minute it’s cloudy and the next there’s blue sky. We had a relaxing slow morning since we were only going about eight miles down the coast to Jacksonville Beach. We met our friends David and Barbara there to enjoy a party that Beach Marine puts on the last Saturday of the month.

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Sept. 26 – Jacksonville, FL

By Trawlers on September 27, 2014 in The Pearl

Jacksonville Free City Dock at Sisters Island

“We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came.”—John F. Kennedy

We’ve been in Jacksonville for six months…way too long for our nomad spirit. I can’t say it’s been boring, we’ve explored the St. John’s River, worked on our teak, had time to play with our grand daughter, got to welcome our grandson into the world and had a lot of quality time with him and his parents and we’ve bought a new boat. Although we haven’t spent much time on the water, it certainly has been a busy season. Our plan now is to move The Pearl south to Harbortown Marina in Ft. Piece. We will leave her there until we return after Christmas and move to Marathon for the winter. Once we have her settled we will come back to Jacksonville and get the Texas Pearl ready for her trip home to Texas.

Things on the Hatteras are going well, the name has been changed, the prop shaft packing has been changed, the hull polished and the bottom sanded and ready for a coat of paint. She should be put back in the water by Monday. In the mean time we are starting our trip south on The Pearl. The FEC Railroad Bridge in Jacksonville has been operating on a limited schedule the last few months and was closed completely last week. We left our slip in time to make the 2:00 opening this afternoon and are spending the night at the free dock at Sisters Creek. We arrived at the free dock just in time to have happy hour with another couple from St. Pete. The dock is part of a park and is very remote…a nice change for us. The view of the water is pretty and I’m sure if it wasn’t so windy we’d see lots of shore birds…at least the wind will keep us cool tonight. Tomorrow we will move to Beach Marina at Jacksonville Beach to enjoy their free docking and Tiki party they offer on the last Saturday of the month.

The FEC Railroad Bridge in downtown Jacksonville is opening…we are finally out of here

Sept. 24 – Texas Pearl

By Trawlers on September 25, 2014 in The Pearl

Our new Hatteras is beginning to look and feel more like our boat. The old name is gone and the new one has gone on. One step closer to our trip home.

Sept. 23 – Jacksonville, FL

By Trawlers on September 24, 2014 in The Pearl

Lamb’s Yacht Center

“We all come from the sea, but we are not all of the sea. Those of us who are, we children of the tides, must return to it again and again.” -Chasing Mavericks

We’ve been busy the last three days working hard on the Texas Pearl. I have wiped down every surface on the boat, polished all the wood and washed all the bedding. Stan has done dozens of small jobs including

Sept. 19 – Hatteras Stats

By Trawlers on September 19, 2014 in The Pearl

Lamb’s Yacht Center

I know there are some of our readers who might like to have the stats on our new Hatteras…so here is what was on the yacht listing and a few engine room pictures.

Sept. 18 – Introducing the Texas Pearl

By Trawlers on September 18, 2014 in The Pearl

Lamb’s Yacht Center

“Finding your way doesn’t mean you always know where you’re going. It’s knowing how to find your way back home that’s important.” ―Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

It’s official…papers have been signed and money exchanged, we’re the new owners of a 1981 48’ Hatteras to be know as Texas Pearl. I can finally just be excited! Here’s are a few pictures of how she looks right now. She’s in wonderful condition…all she really needs is a little cleaning, but I look forward to redecorating a little and making her feel like our home.

Floor Plan to the 48′ Hatteras

Flybridge

Aft deck and stairs to the flybridge

Aft deck

Salon looking towards the bow at the galley and dinette

The Salon looking towards the aft of the boat

Dinette

Galley with new Corian counters

Looking aft at the main stateroom

Hall stateroom

V-birth stateroom of the galley

Sept. 16- Jacksonville, FL

By Trawlers on September 17, 2014 in The Pearl

Lamb’s Yacht Center

“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens.” ―Mandy Hale

Happy 60th birthday babe! A man can never have too many tools, guitars or boats. Stan’s answer to how many he needs is always…”Just One More”!

Last fall we fell in love with the idea of having another boat. One we would leave in Texas to use as a vacation home. A place for family to gather, take short cruises and hang out. We’ve been talking about and looking at boats online and in person for almost a year. We came close to buying a 53′ Hatteras last December, but the timing wasn’t right and it just didn’t happen. This spring we looked at several other boats a 50′ Maine Trader, a Sea Master 48 and the 48′ Hatteras. Stan studied and searched the Internet daily for the right boat. Last spring after we finished our trip up the St. John’s River Stan looked at a 48′ Hatteras docked at the end of our pier. We didn’t think much about it until we got home this summer. The more we thought about it the more we realized it was the boat we were looking for…three staterooms, plenty of living space and a large aft deck for entertaining family and friends.

Buying a large old used boat can be somewhat of a roller coaster ride. Definitely not like buying a car…it’s more like buying a house. Finding just the right boat can take awhile, but that’s only the beginning. Once you find that perfect boat…you start getting excited, but there are still so many things that have to fall into place before it can be yours. One day everything seems perfect and the next day something unexpected comes up. Engines have to be checked out, electrical systems and plumbing have to be looked at, not to mention the condition of the hull, the paint, the windows, the electronics and a zillion other things that could make the boat a bad choice. We spent two days poking around the boat checking everything out, and then debating if we really wanted or needed the extra responsibility of owning another boat. The answer was YES, so we made an offer on the boat and our roller coaster ride of emotions began. Waiting to hear if the offer was accepted was a little hard…especially since we really wanted the boat. Once the offer was accepted we began lining up experts to do a full survey of the boat. One surveyor that would concentrate on the Detroit engines and another would check everything else. We could tell the boat looked great, but it is 33 years old. Our biggest concern were the engines and how much work they might need. The first checks on them showed there might be an issue…so then we had to rethink our offer. We even gave some thought to passing on the boat all together. In the end we adjusted our offer and had the survey and sea trail yesterday.

The sea trail is my favorite part of the process…that’s when you take the boat out on the water and see how everything works while underway. The survey, haul out and sea trail didn’t show anything new or alarming, in fact it showed that the engines seem fine for now, although they may need to be over hauled in the future. So…today we are waiting on the written report and the oil samples to be returned and hopefully by Wednesday we can start the process of signing all the papers and making her ours…I guess we need to come up with a name pretty soon!