Pete made his fourth trip back to Maryland in October, 2017, to close the deal and take possession of Reverie. He hired a certified training captain the very next day. It was Friday, the 13th, but that didn’t stop them. On Saturday, Pete went to the Annapolis Boat Show in search of a dinghy, which he found.
We will take delivery in April when we return to recommission and provision our boat.
Our east coast family joined Pete on Saturday evening for the official “boat-warming.” (I stayed home…to work.) On Sunday, with calm seas, Reverie took the family out onto the Chesapeake Bay.
For the next few days, Pete read every bit of literature on the boat. He studied the navionics, fired up the motor, learned about the complex electrical panel and gauges and radios. He tested the galley appliances, used the barbecue, and ate dinner while seated on the new boat chairs and watching the sunsets.
He called home nightly to share his excitement, but there was one thing missing: his wife.
Thanks to my co-workers, I got a couple of shifts covered and joined Pete for the last week of October.
Pete introduced me to the nuances of our boat. The electrical panel was intimidating and the “head rules” took some adjustment, but the master stateroom was very cozy and I loved falling asleep with a gentle rocking and quiet lapping of the water against the side of the boat.
Winterizing the boat was our next task. This was an ordeal but it saved us a lot of money. We changed the oil and filters, added antifreeze to all areas of water storage or drainage, ran antifreeze through the water cooling system of the engine, and emptied the holding tank. (We used 25 gallons of antifreeze!) Lastly, we filled the fuel tank up with diesel. Or so we thought… There was a misunderstanding and the dock hand assisted the top-off with unleaded gasoline. (Oops.)
We noticed the error before starting our engine (God Bless Susan!), and as it was late in the day, we simply stayed parked at the fuel dock overnight until a tow boat could ferry us to the haul out location.
Pete made arrangements to have the fuel tanks emptied and refilled with diesel. I made arrangements to have the canvas vender come and take measurements, before the shrink wrap was applied.
Once lifted and jacked, we made a final sweep through Reverie and said our goodbye’s for the winter. We left the keys with the marina office and headed to spend our last night with family before our early Sunday morning flight back to California.