Jupiter FL - Good Idea becomes Solstice

[Kevin's Post]Before we could close, we had to decide what we wanted to name the boat so that all the paperwork could be filled out appropriately.  We didn't think keeping the name 'Good Idea' was a good idea after we realized just how often that phrase comes up in everyday conversation.  We would actually cringe each time we accidentally said it.  So we brainstormed a list of possible boat names.  We wanted a simple, elegant name like boats used to have before everybody started using puns.  We're not druids or anything, we just liked how Solstice sounds, so that's what we decided to name it.

We also had to choose a hailing port.  If we wanted to keep Jupiter, FL as the hailing port it would mean we would have to register it there and pay Florida state sales tax on the purchase price.  If we chose another state, we would have to register it there and get out of Florida within 90 days.  We learned that Rhode Island doesn't have any sales tax on boats (a state measure to stimulate the boating industry there), so Newport went to the top of the list.  And besides, there is no cooler pedigree than a Newport hailing port for a sailboat.  Even if we didn't know how to sail, we figured a Newport hailing port would help us fake it.  You can register a boat anywhere and a lot of people will register a boat in a place they have no intention of going.  But, we still had to get out of Florida within 90 days, and stay out for the duration of hurricane season.  So we tentatively made plans to move the boat 1500 miles to Rhode Island and keep it there for the duration of hurricane season.  Narragansett Bay is a big protected bay and looked like it would be a good place for a couple inexperienced boaters to build some skills.

Not really knowing what we were doing, we enlisted the help of our sea trial survey captain, Ed.  Since he is already familiar with the boat and also friends with the previous owner, we figured he would be a good resource for us.  A few weeks ago, we flew out to FL for another weekend to get more familiar with the boat and systems.  It is pretty overwhelming with all the equipment on board, three diesel engines (two for propulsion and one for a generator), an outboard, a watermaker, all the navigation systems, plumbing systems, charging systems, I could go on.  I haven't even gotten to all the sailing gear.  So we hired Ed for a day to help us sail one inlet to the north and anchor for the night.  Then we would motor back to Jupiter ourselves via the ICW.  We spent our first night at anchor in a place called Manatee Pocket up in Stuart and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  We even made a a little boat tour video.

Last week we took the boat back to the boatyard to haulout.  The saildrives needed new zincs and we decided while it was out of the water, we would put another coat of bottom paint on, and get rid of those crazy graphics once and for all.  I hired one company to service the saildrives, and another company to do the graphics and paint.  I left the boat at the yard and flew home hoping I could manage the haulout from Phoenix. That was a real eye opener.  The saildrive mechanic couldn't figure out how to put the zincs on since the saildrive had aftermarket line cutters.  So I called the manufacturer of the line cutters and got detailed instructions of how to install them.  They needed to drill one hole and cut one notch.  No big deal right?  They still couldn't figure it out.  After days of phone calls I finally decided to buy the modified zincs directly from the line cutter manufacturer and have them fedexed from Great Britain to FL.  It cost about $150 dollars in shipping, but every day in the yard was costing me that, so I figured it was worth it to just get it done.   Then I narrowly avert disaster when I discover the painter is about to try to use an epoxy bottom paint over the ablative paint which is on the boat.  I've only owned a boat two weeks and even I know you don't do that.  How could a professional boat maintenance company be so ignorant?  It's a mystery to me.  So, I tell him the exact brand and color to use and wonder how else he is going to manage to screw up the simple job.  When Amanda and I flew back to FL to put the boat back in the water we were amused and annoyed to see that they had painted over our brand new zincs (another no-no).  So we had to sand the paint off the zincs.  But it was hard to be too upset, because the boat looked fantastic.  All the vinyl graphics had been removed, the hulls had been compounded and waxed and the boat gleamed.  We had one day in the yard to apply the new striping and lettering, which we planned to do ourselves.  If you want something done right . . .you know the saying.  Apparently it applies to boats too.

We proudly motored back to our marina slip to another unpleasant surprise.  No sooner had we tied up at our slip when a marina official pulls up in a golf cart and starts asking all sorts of questions.  Now that the boat looked very different, it was obvious to the marina that the boat had been sold.  He informed us that the previous owner was not allowed to sublet the slip (which he had already paid for through April) and that we would have to sign a new dockage agreement.  What!?  So let's get this straight, the marina has already been paid for the slip, now they want to be paid again for the same slip, same boat, same time period.  Yessir.  Unfortunately, we only had a few hours before our flight out to Phoenix so we were basically extorted into signing on for two weeks dockage (the soonest we could return and move the boat) at about $450.  They thought they were being generous by prorating the monthly rate instead of charging the daily rate.  Gee thanks.  If they had done that, it would have been more cost effective for us to just miss our flight and move the boat.  Let's hope that the ignorance, incompetence, and thievery we have experienced in the past couple weeks is not commonplace.