The following post is from the Nordhavn Dreamers sight but I believe is relevant to anyone who is thinking about enjoying the boating life style. I hope you enjoy. 
Hello Dreamers from La Tempestad. With mother nature continuing to show who is really in charge especially on the east coast and it being a Friday I thought another post to help encourage dreamers to start their own journey was in order. Heck, if nothing else this may provide a little Saturday morning reading while enjoying your first cup of coffee as the snow continues to fall outside.
It's Friday and after a hell week at work (not all Nordy owners have deep pockets - at least that's what I have been told) my saving grace was that Maria drove the 100 miles by herself (with Daisy riding shotgun) to the boat earlier this week to help me save my back from commuting. This was her first solo trip in four years due to back issues and sign things are slowly improving for her. Something about leaving work and returning to the boat instead of driving home for the evening is a little more special. I have said it before but just stepping off the dock onto the boat allows for some level of freedom from everyday life. Granted the dang Blackberry keeps work close by but I'm learning not to look at it every 15 minutes. Sometimes I hate technology. Yesterday after work I went for a very long walk along the bay and was able to relieve a lot of stress which wouldn't have occurred if we had been at the house. Funny how things can be so different when on the water. When we lived aboard years ago I was in much better physical shape then I am today. See boating can be healthy thus another reason to buy your Nordhavn.
Now that it's Friday I can really leave the stress of the corporate world behind and appreciate what life is really about. Listening to the Zac Brown Band singing with Jimmy Buffet about sitting on the beach with his only worry being if the tide will reach his chair was a good start to the 20 minute drive to the boat. It take me long to get comfortable aboard make that first Margarita since I knew it was 5:00 O'clock somewhere and I had no plans to do anything. After a cold drink with chips and discussing the evening plans with Maria it was time to take daisy for her walk as we enjoyed the 74 degree sunshine. We have been blessed this winter with unusual dry and warm weather. Afterwards we decided we would pick up dinner and take it back to the boat instead fighting the crowds so we drove 8 minutes to Little Italy in downtown San Diego and picked a salad, ravioli and desert, OK two deserts since it is Valentines Day. Tiramisu and a great cheescake. Back at the boat I put Jimmy Buffet Live at Wrigley Field on the TV, made another margarita and started to write this post. Funny how this post has taken priority over work emails.
Tomorrow we plan to take the boat out as we continue to get use to her and check on a few maintenance items we had performed. I think we got the stuffing box to cool down which just needed a ittle time for the new packing to loosen. Having Lugger Bob aboard along with Jeff two weeks ago made me feel even better about this little gem we found. The only remaining item on my hit list is to replace the electric horn with a new one I have aboard.
The whole point of this post is to help push those dreamers who mat still be a little undecided if their time has arrived or if they have saved enough to make their purchase. I'm now 53, not getting any younger and figure what the hell am I waiting for to enjoy a little time aboard. While we hope to enjoy serious cruising when I retire, I have to wonder if life's cards will be in our favor and that is just something I'm not willing to bet on. Jeff Merrill made a comment the last time we were together when I told him we were starting to think about N4. He said think about how few people will ever experience owning or spending a night aboard a Nordhavn, then think how many will ever own two Nordhavn never mind three. Why are you so worried about N4, just enjoy N3, its all you need. Jeff was so right, you don't need a new or even large Nordhavn to enjoy the life style. This little N35 can take Mary and I anyplace we would ever wan to travel and what's really cool is we can ship her to the east coast if we decide to do the loop! Sometimes smaller is better.
So todays message (for what its worth) is for that that one dreamer to go find the cleanest and smallest boat which can fulfill your dreams and just do I now. I never thought we would be spending three nights aboard a N35 and realizing the boat works just fine compared to our N40's and even a couple of N47's we looked at and made an offer on. It's all a state of mind once you are aboard. Hope this post helped at least one dreamer make their move. Back to Jimmy and dinner.
John T
N3522
La Tempestad
Hello Dreamers from La Tempestad. With mother nature continuing to show who is really in charge especially on the east coast and it being a Friday I thought another post to help encourage dreamers to start their own journey was in order. Heck, if nothing else this may provide a little Saturday morning reading while enjoying your first cup of coffee as the snow continues to fall outside.
It's Friday and after a hell week at work (not all Nordy owners have deep pockets - at least that's what I have been told) my saving grace was that Maria drove the 100 miles by herself (with Daisy riding shotgun) to the boat earlier this week to help me save my back from commuting. This was her first solo trip in four years due to back issues and sign things are slowly improving for her. Something about leaving work and returning to the boat instead of driving home for the evening is a little more special. I have said it before but just stepping off the dock onto the boat allows for some level of freedom from everyday life. Granted the dang Blackberry keeps work close by but I'm learning not to look at it every 15 minutes. Sometimes I hate technology. Yesterday after work I went for a very long walk along the bay and was able to relieve a lot of stress which wouldn't have occurred if we had been at the house. Funny how things can be so different when on the water. When we lived aboard years ago I was in much better physical shape then I am today. See boating can be healthy thus another reason to buy your Nordhavn.
Now that it's Friday I can really leave the stress of the corporate world behind and appreciate what life is really about. Listening to the Zac Brown Band singing with Jimmy Buffet about sitting on the beach with his only worry being if the tide will reach his chair was a good start to the 20 minute drive to the boat. It take me long to get comfortable aboard make that first Margarita since I knew it was 5:00 O'clock somewhere and I had no plans to do anything. After a cold drink with chips and discussing the evening plans with Maria it was time to take daisy for her walk as we enjoyed the 74 degree sunshine. We have been blessed this winter with unusual dry and warm weather. Afterwards we decided we would pick up dinner and take it back to the boat instead fighting the crowds so we drove 8 minutes to Little Italy in downtown San Diego and picked a salad, ravioli and desert, OK two deserts since it is Valentines Day. Tiramisu and a great cheescake. Back at the boat I put Jimmy Buffet Live at Wrigley Field on the TV, made another margarita and started to write this post. Funny how this post has taken priority over work emails.
Tomorrow we plan to take the boat out as we continue to get use to her and check on a few maintenance items we had performed. I think we got the stuffing box to cool down which just needed a ittle time for the new packing to loosen. Having Lugger Bob aboard along with Jeff two weeks ago made me feel even better about this little gem we found. The only remaining item on my hit list is to replace the electric horn with a new one I have aboard.
The whole point of this post is to help push those dreamers who mat still be a little undecided if their time has arrived or if they have saved enough to make their purchase. I'm now 53, not getting any younger and figure what the hell am I waiting for to enjoy a little time aboard. While we hope to enjoy serious cruising when I retire, I have to wonder if life's cards will be in our favor and that is just something I'm not willing to bet on. Jeff Merrill made a comment the last time we were together when I told him we were starting to think about N4. He said think about how few people will ever experience owning or spending a night aboard a Nordhavn, then think how many will ever own two Nordhavn never mind three. Why are you so worried about N4, just enjoy N3, its all you need. Jeff was so right, you don't need a new or even large Nordhavn to enjoy the life style. This little N35 can take Mary and I anyplace we would ever wan to travel and what's really cool is we can ship her to the east coast if we decide to do the loop! Sometimes smaller is better.
So todays message (for what its worth) is for that that one dreamer to go find the cleanest and smallest boat which can fulfill your dreams and just do I now. I never thought we would be spending three nights aboard a N35 and realizing the boat works just fine compared to our N40's and even a couple of N47's we looked at and made an offer on. It's all a state of mind once you are aboard. Hope this post helped at least one dreamer make their move. Back to Jimmy and dinner.
John T
N3522
La Tempestad
