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Sailing Vessel Slainte

To being our sailing adventure you need a vessel that meets one's lifestyle.  We have had several sturdy but small sailing boats and felt a solid cruiser was our choice.  We looked at Cal 39s and 40s, Westsail, Ingrids, Alejeuja and Tayana 37s.  On the Saturday prior to a dinner party, we were to make an offer on a Cal 39.  During dinner our friends, Jack and Michele, told us of a Ingrid like boat that their friends were selling.  Jack had just finished his third years sailing from Portland, OR to Mexico to the South Pacific.  The next day Liz and I began a long process of buying Slainte from the owner (Hoseclamp) that didn't want to sell, his wife seemed to be the motivator of the process. 

This boat had been left at least two years in the hurricane hole in Puerto Escondio, in the Sea of Cortez.  On our 15^th wedding anniversary, Allan went to investigate the boat in Mexico.  In arriving in Loreto, MX I had only one detail by the boat owner, and that was to meet a man with a baseball cap on that said "BOB." Bob was a friend of the owner that also took care of many vessels in the bay.  Sure enough there he was and off to Puerto Escondio.  The date was August 11, 1994.  That evening the temperature was over 100 degrees in my room.  The accommodations were simple and clean, oh and very hot.  Being near-sighted, I put down my book and thought I saw a mouse.  Oops, it was a tarantula, I named him Bob. 

After a thunderstorm and several more showers to keep cool, I woke to a beautiful morning, my first in Mexico.  Bob took me out to the vessel and I spent the next 3 hours inspecting her.  Because of all of the cruising gear on her decks she appeared dowdy.  I measured the interior and took many pictures since Liz wasn't with me.  I then went swimming, to check that the owner had said that there were no blisters.  He was mistaken.  There were many, many blisters. 

Bob the human picked me up and dropped me back at Loreto and I stayed at nice motel with a bar.  I was there on my anniversary, the boat had blisters and it was still damn hot.  The next morning I took Bob out for breakfast and bought several pieces of jewelry for Liz and headed back to Portland, OR.  Now the true beginning of negotiations began. 

Over several months negotiating price and delivery to Portland we headed off with our boat surveyor (Chip Gardis) to Mexico.  The owner was sailing the boat to San Carlos, Mexico where we were to meet him and the boat.  Liz's first impressions were of disappointment on how neglected the boat appeared.  We spent two days looking into the boat, making our way through old spare parts, sails and everything but the spare sink.  The results: she needed to be rerigged, a total bottom job and lots of TLC.  The owner renigged on taking the boat to Portland.  We told the owner we would like to purchase her less new rigging and bottom job.  We couldn't find common ground.  We left disappointed but gained a great friend, Chip Gardes, Boat Surveyor extraordinare. 

The next weekend we began the process of finding another vessel.  We became interested in a Rafiki 37 in Vancouver, BC.  Meanwhile, the owner of the Mexican boat calls and offers a price higher than our original offer that covered the necessary repairs.  We let him know that we had found an alternative, but would stand at our offer.  He said no and hung up.  Within 20 minutes he called and accepted.  We have to thank Brett his wife.  Now we owned a boat in Mexico, that needed rerigging and a new bottom.  We closed this purchase on Valentine's Day 1995. 

After two driving trips from Portland, OR to San Carlo, MX delivering supplies for the bottom job and painting the top-sides, Liz and I concluded that our boat could not be trucked home and we would sail her to Astoria, OR.