New England Boat Show in Boston - and we bought a sailboat in Marblehead

[Fat Cat Anna ~~~ \\^^// ~~~]

We went down on the w/e to Boston to attend the New England Boat show. Sadly, it's nothing like it used to be, about 1/3 of the size and of course, power boats rule!! It was still nice for us to get to the coast and at least dream of the summer that is to come (there were motorcycles on the street that w/e - brrrh).

We came down tho' mainly to look at some sailboats we'd seen online. We found "the one" in Marblehead (beautiful area) - and put an offer in - and it was accepted ( 1984 Catalina 30 ). So, deposit has been wired, getting it inspected by our fav guy Thomas Ferguson, and if all goes well, we will be prepping her for her journey back to Long Sault, Ontario where we keep her at the Stormont Yacht Club (will be on a mooring ball due to her size - so will be looking for a dingy to get us back/forth - no the one above isn't what we'll be purchasing - it's good to keep one foot dry tho').

Originally we were going to sail her back, but Spring time could be rough, and we've never done ocean sailing, so will fork out the $$$'s to have her transported back by land (about a 7 hour drive). Luckily the owners are allowing us as much time as we want to work on her (she's in their backyard). Sweet couple in their 80's, and having difficulty saying good bye to their boat, but health doesn't permit sailing anymore (hope we all go for a long time before this hits us all - but it's life). Good thing is they told us some great stories with their boat, and the trips they've taken with her.

The deal clincher is that I've got to provide the husband with a box of Red River Cereal (better then oatmeal) - as his family is originally from Winnipeg. I told him, if we're working on the boat (and sleeping on it) when we are down, I'll test out the compressed natural gas stove/oven and cook him up a bowl or two (I love the stuff!).

Curious, does anyone out there use compressed natural gas in their stove/oven? From our research, since we're used to an alcohol stove which I love, is that it is a safer gas that never caught on with the government regulators. The closest place we can fill up is in Burlington, Vermont (2 hours away) across the border (and can we legally bring it back???) or Chatam, Ontario (6 hours away).

[Liv]

Congrats, that is so exciting !! Best of luck with the transport back home.

[LOLA]

CONGRATULATIONS...HOW EXCITING

Also be sure to get a survey on the engine...I advise from experience.

[Terri]

Oh.. friends of mine use compressed gas in their stove and love it. They're in RI and get it from Providence. If you have any questions and no one else here uses it, let me know and i'll relay and get an answer for you.

[Terri]

Congrats on the boat! The 30 is a nice boat, room to move around compared to the 25. Agree with you on the Boston Boat Show not being as good as it use to be. We stopped going. Newport fall one about the only decent one left around here. When will you have her delivered? You must be so excited!! Very cool! Terri