Surprise! She ours!

So, there I was, on my first ever two-week paid vacation.

We toured the hill country of Texas - checking out all the places that Keith's ancestor's had lived, visiting San Antonio's River Walk and the Alamo, driving down to Keith's hometown of Raymondville and finishing up our vacation in Port Isabel.

We originally decided to just charter so that I could get the experience of sailing. But there was no charters available at the time, and Keith was busy with broker Bill checking out the Mark IV and discussing other options. So, I hunkered down during that time, in the motel, on the computer and organizing all the info and pictures of my first genealogy "bug-hunting" excursion (that term came from a cousin who had done some amazing genealogy road trips of her own).

In between Keith's hunt for the right boat, we enjoyed visiting various places in Port Isabel and South Padre Island. We had dinner at Pirate's Landing in PI one night, and dinner at Blackbeard's in SPI on another night. We enjoyed an afternoon at the Wanna Wanna beach bar. It had a great view of the Gulf as it was right on the beach on the Gulf side of the island. We toured Sea Turtle, Inc on SPI, which began a love of turtles and their preservation for me.

Now, in all this, I really didn't even imagine we would be heading back to work as new owners of a 36' 1981 Cherubini Hunter. Keith told me when we arrived in Port Isabel that he would be looking for the "right" boat, but not buying until he was ready and the boat "felt" right. I guess the boat felt "right", because I get this call while at the motel that he wanted me to see this boat Bill had shown him. I could hear the excitement in his voice, so I said sure, come get me.

In all honesty, my reaction (which I kept to myself - reserving my opinions until I've taken the whole tour) upon seeing the Grey Bird's exterior was 'this is small....where are we going to put out our chairs on that deck? There's no room'. My reaction to the interior was, ' this is samll'.

But Keith was right, I did notice it was clean. The wood paneling needed some care, the cushions were tattered and ugly, but it had potential. 

Okay, so I was totally clueless and had no idea what kind of lifestyle I was getting myself into - and it took a long time to adjust to it. But I can honestly say now, that I can't imagine any other kind of lifestyle. I can't say every day has been a challenge to triumph over, but life is never mundane or average. I can't say that every day has been an adventure, but there have been more adventures than any we would have living on a ranch, or in an apartment in the city.

So, being the clueless person that I was at that time - and seeing how much Keith liked the boat, the gleam it put in his eye - I gave the Grey Bird a thumbs up. 

I was surprised at how quickly that boat was purchased and became ours. For some reason, I was thinking that it would take weeks - or even months, like a house, and we would own it after two or three more trips to Port Isabel. Imagine my surprise when Keith walked into our room at White Sands and told me we now owned the Grey Bird. A few written checks and signed paperwork and the deal was done. Whoa, that was quick - I blinked and we became boat owners.

Anchor Marina. 

I have always said that getting a boat was Keith's dream....and it was his dream. I never, in my wildest imagination, would have ever thought of it for myself.  It made him happy - which made me happy for him. Over time, I adopted that dream of his - a process of embracing it, pushing it away, embracing it - adjusting, adapting - until it sneaks into the soul and settles in (quite nicely, too).

After the purchase - and before leaving Port Isabel to get back to work - the Moonlight Sue had to be moved out of her private slip to a side-tie at Anchor Marina in the Fingers. 

We actually had the name change completed on the sale papers, as we had already made the decision to re-name the boat we would buy.

I came up with the name on one of our "truck talks" on the road. Sue was Keith's mothers' name. She had passed on a few years before we bought the Hunter. I knew that, if she was there, she would be excited about Keith fulfilling a dream of his - and we wanted her with us always. So, I tried out a few different "Sue" names in my head and came up with "Moonlight Sue".  Keith liked it and when the Grey Bird became ours - we christened her "Moonlight Sue".

 Keith on our last afternoon of our vacation. With no time left to take her out, Keith is                          goofing off his anxiousness to get out to sea. A classic picture - of which Keith disagrees.

We spent the last afternoon on the Sue at Anchor Marina. Keith was just chomping at the bit to take her out on a day sail, but we had run out of time. It would have to wait until our next time off. We spent the afternoon talking about plans for us, the boat, our lives. And we were excited. Everything was coming together.

Little did I know (since he never tells me anything until the last minute), that Keith had some very definite plans to personalize the Sue. And, quite frankly, between him and his son, Branden, had created one of the most beautiful boats I had ever seen in my life.

Wrong Boat, Right Purchase

So , ok. What's another broken dream? So what! The Mark IV was just exactly what I was looking for. I mean, I had it all figured out - center cockpit (so we stay nice and high - and dry), ketch - rigged, as I am a strong believer in redundancy (a second mast should one go down), forward and aft staterooms for a little privacy (and 2 heads are better than one) and 44' is a nice size. Yep, she was perfect and I could have fixed her problems; but $50,000 was just out of range. 
See, here's the problem; I'm just like my mother was - I want it and I want it NOW! Saving another $30,000 would have taken another 2 years, and that was just too long to wait to go sailing. So, we went back to our room at White Sands Motel to talk about what to do next.
We spent the next day shopping and sightseeing, and that afternoon we figured we'd check the internet and see what as there - nothing. Oh well, end of the line, I guess. 
Bill called later that evening and said he wanted to show me a boat that I might be interested in and could I meet him in the morning for coffee at Marchan's (the motel restaurant). 
The next morning, after coffee, Bill took me around the corner to an apartment building in "the fingers"- an area of the bay consisting of 4 or 5 parallel channels. and as we walked around to the back there was a slip in the channel. In the slip was tied "the wrong boat!". 
Grey Bird  was a 1981 36' Hunter......aft cockpit - wrong!........sloop rig - wrong!........forward v-berth - wrong! And she was not really as big as I wanted. She was every thing I DIDN'T want; but as I looked her over,  inside and out, I saw a lot of potential. What really got me was the cut of her bow and the overall lines of her decks - totally clean! There were no dorade vents, no protrusions on the decks - nothing but a clean aerodynamic shape. She was clean inside, too, although the upholstery was a bit ragged. Everything seemed to work okay, so I asked Bill what the selling price was, and he said $25,000.....but offer $19,000. Well, okay, lets see what happens.
 In the office at Anchor Marina, he phoned the owner of the boat and made the offer, of which the owner immediately refused  - so it was thanks and good bye. Bill and I talked for a short while and, during the course of the conversation, he revealed that the owner and his wife were going through a divorce and that was the reason he had to sell the boat. It was quite seaworthy - nothing to do with boat problems.  While we were talking, about 5 or 6 minutes later, the phone rang and it was the owner . . . accepting my offer!
I told Bill that before I submitted a formal offer, I'd better get Carol's approval. So, we drove back to the motel,  picked up Carol and went back to the boat. Now, Carol didn't know zip about sailboats, but she did know clean and good size so her review didn't take long.
I submitted the formal offer pending sea trials, which was to take place the next day - except Bill couldn't be there, but he did arrange for the marina owner, Mark, to go out with me. The next day was cloudy and a little rainy. Mark was complaining about the bad weather, but I insisted on the trials, so off we went.
We headed out the channel and east along the Queen Isabella bridge.  I wanted to raise the mainsail to check the rigging. This really upset Mark, so on this, I relented. Hey, the engine started and ran great, the steering felt tight and responsive, and the depth sounder worked well. Mark was pissin' and moanin' about the weather the whole time, so as we neared the end of the bridge, we turned back to the marina and called it a good sea trial. 
The wife of Grey Bird's owner signed the papers over the next day. so after that, I wrote out the checks to the soon-to-be former owner of the Grey Bird, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Bill's commission, and, of course, the sales tax.
Carol and I now owned a sailboat named Grey Bird !! (That name had to go!}