This step in the acquisition process involved a whole team of professionals going over the boat with a fine tooth comb. A Surveyor is the marine equivalent of your home inspector. He looks over all things structural, all the systems, the rigging, the equipment etc, making sure everything works and documenting anything that doesn’t , so we know exactly what we are getting. Nothing goes un-checked, from the bottom of the keel

 

to the top of the mast

and everything in between. Sails and rigging

systems and safety equipment

and right down under the sole.

Finally, we set out on the Chesapeake for our first sail on Kinship. Matthew takes a turn at the wheel

So far so good. Full report to follow….

We did it, we are buying “the boat”, a ticket to anywhere. This is the start of a long journey, both literally and figuratively. We have a contract to buy “Kinship” a Saga 43 with experience.  We are nervous, happy and expectant.  We need Kinship to pass a survey and test sail, scheduled for December 8th.  Once the survey is done, the boat will be ours.

We chose the Saga based on feedback from Bob Perry, the designer of the Saga and Andy Schell, who had sailed Kinship across the Atlantic a couple of years ago.  Saga is a Canadian built boat, Kinship is hull 19 and was built in St Catharines Ontario.  Bob designed the Saga as a fast cruiser with a modern hull form and a solant rig.  It is a capable design that was perhaps a little light in the keel, Kinship has a shoe on the keel to allow more sail to be carried up wind.

Kinship is an experienced and proven boat, she has done an Atlantic circuit and has been off-shore to the Caribbean many times.  We plan to spend the next two years building our skills and preparing the crew to take advantage of a boat that can take us just about anywhere.