Burrrrrrrr

The Chester River Sunrise is hard to beat.  Waterfowl are in and making a racket but, to those of us who love having them, it's music.

Winter in Maryland is hard to predict.  I've had roses blooming in December and I've seen snow in October. But no matter how bone chilling the wind feels, it's comforting to know that we'll only get about two months of the serious stuff and then we get beautiful, warm, crystalline days thrown in.  Enough to coax a few daffodils to inch toward the sun a little too early.

Selling boats is an exercise in patience during this time.  My hearty customers must wait while surveys are scheduled again and again in hopes of mother nature cooperating but, patience is rewarded by  being able to personalize their new purchase and be on the water early for the new season.  They have memorized the operating manuals and know exactly how to use those new instruments.  

Bundle up!  Let's go look at a few boats!

CH CH CH Changes

Well, after 26 years at Gratitude Yachting Center, I am now with S&J Yachts.
The announcement that Gratitude would close the doors came several weeks ago and with it came a new opportunity to work with Sharon and Jack Malatich, friends and fellow brokers who were expanding their already established business offering new Southerly yachts.
The opportunity came at just the right time with blessings too many to count.  Jack and Sharon are great people and , a lot of the old crew is on board with S&J, too.  I not only have an office in Rock Hall, but a beautiful office in Annapolis and another in Deltaville, VA.  
My love of boats goes back forever and I still find enjoyment in finding just the right boat for my customers/friends. The web of my customers grows stronger, and......how's this for an example of the coconut telegraph.  Friends who bought an Island Packet 38 from me years ago and who are hanging around in Panama on their boat, were the first to email me after hearing about the changes.  They were on a transport heading from the marina to the grocery store when a fellow cruiser told them his broker in Miami had heard that there were changes in my working situation.  They emailed me and, well.....they won the prize.   

So, it's S&J Yachts.  My cell number (410-708-4416) is still the same.  My email address is michele@sjyachts.com.   I still love my Island Packets and hope to keep my connections strong with them and, most of all, I still love my customers.  Old ones and new ones for anything that floats....power or sail.....new or used.

                                        It's all good.

Loving "The Dark Side"

As many of you know, I've been a sailor for many years.  I'm still a sailor, when given the chance.  But here's an admission for you all.....I'm really liking the next step that sailors seem to take.....yep....I'm beginning to appreciate a really nice trawler.
They seem to be designed for different purposes, just like sail boats.  Two I am currently listing appeal, not only for their intent but because they are both wonderfully maintained and very special.

 

click here to see listing 

Ralph and Polly and I go back 20 years, when I sold them their Island Packet 38.  Many years later, when they were ready to sell her, they gave me a call.  These folks are a yacht broker's dream.  Their boats are always stunning.  No detail escapes them and after only one showing, their 38 had a new home.  The same went for selling their next boat and now, the new Monk they bought in 2006 is listed.  Needless to say, she's a beauty and is a well built, well thought out design.

The next one I'm in love with is the Selene 40, Dar Sea.  Her owners travel north and south and are always on the  move.  She's perfectly cut out for life aboard and is very "ship like" in her design.  She's stout and can handle just about anything and has had every detail considered.  How about an air conditioned engine room...anyone?

Click here for the listing

Where to begin?

Wow, it's been a while.  I have a few more gray hairs and wrinkles but, I'm vertical and still selling boats.   Yes, selling boats.  My job never ceases to entertain, challenge, teach and surprise every day!  I've never been one to appreciate boredom.  It happens easily for me and the influx of situations and personalities constantly changes.  I delight in meeting such different people and learning from them.  Practical lessons like how to flake a line quickly over a winch and not have a twist or, being introduced to a movie that explains a new customer's background.  (East Texas?  Watch Bernie)  Conversations about boats morph into philosophical discussions since many times the acquisition of a boat allows a well planned life change.  In order to help a customer decide on a design, I must first know how they plan to use the boat.  That's where the dreams start.  Well laid out courses that have been dreamed for years while sitting at a desk, staring at a brick wall on the other side of the hard earned office with a window.

I love to listen.  I love to suggest this vehicle of dreams and help it become reality.

Mary Helen (Fairwinds) goes home.

When Tom first saw Fairwinds, it was love at first sight. While we looked at other boats, her name kept surfacing as the benchmark for all others so, when his time frame moved up and she was still available, the match was perfect.

Boats can be "reborn" in a way. When it was time for Fairwinds to move to another situation she waited for a while. Everyone wondered why she hadn't moved but, I believe it's because the right family hadn't arrived on the scene. Everyone who has worked with me closely has heard me say that boats go where they are supposed to go. Can't help it......I've seen it too many times.


Look at Tom's face the evening before pulling out for his trip home with the now named Mary Helen. Look at the boat and the three happy, exhilarated crew when she arrived.








Tom wrote me an email giving me the highlights of the trip. To quote Tom, "The "Mary Helen" took wonderful care of us during our passage. She impressed us all with her stability and comfort! I loved her feel when she set in under sail, pulling strongly and evenly. When we motored, she purred along at close to 6 knots @ 2500rpm. I love the boat!!!"


A boat that only months before was feeling a little neglected is now the apple of this family's eye. She starts a new chapter now and will write new stories and create another lifetime of memories for Tom, Pam and their daughters.


Fair Winds and Gentle Tides, Mary Helen!

A New Home for SKYE

I knew it wouldn't take long for SKYE to find a new home.










The combination of a beautiful, traditional line, respected builder and unbelievably devoted and knowledgeable owners all helped. The survey and sea trial were my first of the spring season and will signal a very busy next couple of weeks, as the yards start to launch and surveys that have been postponed are scheduled.
This is an exciting time and one I look forward to every year. Boatyards come to life and old friends show up to carry out the spring routine of waxing, painting, chatting and once in a while, beer drinking. Probably nothing tastes better after a day of wielding the buffer or random orbital sander!
The camaraderie of a spring boat yard is great. It's hard work but, it's fun and the results are totally satisfying. Dave and Kathy, the new owners of SKYE, are no strangers to boats. They've owned many boats before SKYE but have already started building her story with a very entertaining account of sinking her mooring. I can tell that they are no strangers to resourcefulness and will carry on the wonderful stewardship that SKYE.....now PANDORA...has enjoyed.
If you see them on the Bay, give a wave!

Why Rock Hall?

Gee……Rock Hall……where to begin?

My route to Rock Hall was determined by boats…pure and simple. I worked for Getaway Sailing, a company owned by a Johnstown resident who kept his boats in Rock Hall. That’s how I showed up here late one night…. totally lost.

Over the years and many experiences later, I’m still here. Have I ever felt I was born here or was an old timer here? Never. My family hasn’t been here 200 years so I’m not from here but, it doesn’t keep me from adopting an attitude of belonging.

Belonging means that you work hard, respect what you should respect, honor basic civility, question what you should question and pepper it all with a good dose of humor.

Let’s put it this way. Everyone is welcome here. The world’s oldest pick up is right at home next to a spanking new Hum-Vee at the Shore Stop pumps. Tractors pull up regularly and there was a time when you might see Chester, a well known Chesapeake Bay retriever sitting on the tractor seat with his Elmer Fudd hat on waiting for his master to finish breakfast.

If you are visiting, kick back and soak it all in but, if you find that when you left Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York or Amsterdam, you left your sense of humor laying on the kitchen counter, turn around, go home and get it.

I remember one hot day last summer when I was in line to pay for my cup of tea. There was a long line at the register and there was a problem turning on one of the gas pumps. The “gentleman” came roaring in and really gave the polite young man behind the register a real dressing down using every name in the book just because the pump wasn’t working. The poor guy behind the counter handled him beautifully and when he had left, everyone in line was perfectly quiet and just looked at one another, wide eyed….as though we had just witnessed an encounter with an angry Martian. I mean……come on……it’s a problem with a gas pump, not the end of the world.

This is the land of the quirky. I have pulled up to the gas pump late at night to the sight shown above, found myself standing in a short line at the bank in my bare feet and no one noticed let alone cared, and have serendipitously gotten my flu shot at Jack’s garage (owned by Dickey) while paying for my brake job. It’s all okay. It’s Rock Hall.