We finally found her
We sold our CS 27 in July of 2001, so we were boatless. Talk about withdrawal. We felt like outcasts. Our friends all still had there boats, and although they invited us along, we felt out of place. We needed to find a boat.
We began the search for the new boat. We knew roughly what we wanted. Heavy displacement,(15000 lb plus), 35 - 40 feet long, 5 foot or less draft, and within our limited budget. So we surfed the internet. Talked to the local boat brokers. Traveled to Florida, Annapolis and numerous marinas on Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and Lake Huron. Talked to the boat brokers again. Put in offers on 3 boats. Surveyed one and walked away. All in all we became very discouraged and frustrated at the process. Most of the boats were overpriced, in poor repair and had unreasonable owners. (can't wait to be in that position again)
In May of 2002, we decide to revisit some of the local Ontario boats that we had disregarded. One boat in Wiarton had been on the market since the previous fall. We contacted the Broker and arranged to meet at the boat, fully expecting it to be unacceptable. The Broker informed us that the deal on the boat had just fall in through. The Buyer had walked away after the owner had agreed to adjust the selling price based upon the work outlined in the survey report. We reviewed the survey and accepted the Sellers revised price. Raft was ours and two weeks later we sailed her across Georgian Bay to our marina in Penetang
We elected to take Raft on a six week cruise around Georgian Bay and the North channel that summer. We felt this would help us get to know the boat better before we began to make any changes. It was a great six weeks and Boy did we learn the boat. As we sailed across Georgian Bay from Hope Island heading for Wingfield Basin on the learned that the autohelm and refrigeration sucked the batteries dry within 4 hours. We also learned that 35 amp alternator only outputs about 20 amps and will not recharge 2-12 volt batteries in 2 hours of engine operation. We learned that fellow boaters talk about when your run your diesel for more than 2 hours each morning in quiet anchorages to top up the batteries because the refrigeration draws them down each night. (no insulation in the ice box) from running constantly. We learned that when you put the boat into reverse, it prop walks to port severely with a two bladed prop. We learned that it possible to spin the propellers shaft coupling off the transmission while anchoring at 3:30 pm on a Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend in Gore Bay. (the local machine shop stayed open late to help us out of this one). The adventures have begun