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We are sitting in the saloon of our new Nordhavn 50, after having had a fun and busy couple of days with Jeff Merrill, (boat broker extraodinaire and good friend) Lee the Captain, ( owners are in Florida playing on their new boat so a captain had to represent them and pilot their boat three or four miles offshore to do the deed) Paul the lawyer (there’s always a lawyer involved, right???) …. and then numerous stores to make the boat habitable for the next week. NOT that it wasn’t!! we just needed things like chairs for sitting outside and watching the sun go down… and food… and such.
We kept asking ourselves if we were crazy, but now, sitting here with all this extra space, new cushions and comforter and shower curtain ( silly, but sometimes little things that you choose for yourself go a long way to make the boat your own)… we know we did the right thing. Two boat status notwithstanding.
It was a bit complicated, by virtue of us being Canadians, eh, and the boat being in Ensenada.. and now San Diego. But it is done, although we have to jump through some more hoops to register her as Canadian. Then she will be officially Northern Ranger II. Until then, we can’t bring anything on board with the new name… we have to do the “official” name changing ceremony, the one that requires champagne and red wine and all that good stuff… and of course papers.. lots of paperwork. I had boat cards made up but they are sitting in the rental truck waiting for all the t’s to be crossed and the i’s to be dotted.
But then – just as the dust settles for Jeff, having sold us this boat, he will have to get back to work and sell Northern Ranger I… and that will be a bit more interesting. First of all we have to bring her up from La Paz, and put her in Ensenada. She’s a Canadian boat… in Mexico… we shall see how many hoops have to be navigated for that to happen! We trust Jeff will work his magic, and the world will be introduced to the best little 46 around – and someone will fall in love with her the way we did.
We are here for another week ( who wants to go home, we hear there are some hellacious storms happening in the Pacific Northwet) and have some more work to do … Steve D’Antonio is going to work his magic and go over the boat with a very fine tooth comb and identify anything and everything that may be immediately, soon, or somewhere in the future, a small, medium, or huge issue. We had this done with Northern Ranger I, and although it seems a bit like overkill, what with the surveys we have already had, having Steve come in and really get into the minutae… nitty gritty? and provide us with a ( more than likely because we know Steve) very big binder full of recommendations… a little knowledge may be a dangerous thing, a lot of knowledge may forestall some issues in the future.
Meeting with friends, hanging out in San Diego, really getting to know the new Northern Ranger II ( we have to arrange to have the old name taken off and the new one put on… next week)… lots to do!
And maybe some docking practice… just saying… every boat handles differently and this one certainly is no exception!