We Finally Buy A Boat
November 26, 2005
We have a clearly defined and well thought out schedule for our go cruising plans including a target shove off "fully divested of dry land attachments" date. There is enough time to build, commission, train on and outfit Makara. It is an ambitious, but not crazy schedule where we must balance prudence, finances and desire to get out there. Our decision to hold off on the final contract for a Malo 43 did not impact our schedule. If anything we were rushing it a bit too much. Fate, if you are a follower of Greek philosophy, abhors the vacuum of waiting and must invariably spice up the never ending march of life with tasty twists and turns. Shortly after we cancelled our trip to Sweden, a call came on an unseasonably warm fall day. It seemed that Thom Wagner (president of Passport Yachts) wanted to talk about our cruising plans. He also wanted to chat about how he might be able help. Thom is a very knowledgeable sailor and boat builder and we are always eager to benefit from the expertise of others. Also we were a bit curious as to what he might have in store. What could we lose?
Not unexpectedly a package arrived shortly thereafter with literature on the Passport line of yachts. I guess the question Nancy asked that dark and stormy night got them thinking. We set a time to meet in Annapolis. We looked over the literature for the Passports and started noticing some interesting things. Many elements that we were changing to get the Malo right for us were standard on the Passports. The layouts, relative sizes of the below deck areas, the engine (Yanmar), the rig, the ground tackle, tankage and even the construction techniques were eerily similar to our original specification, without having to modify anything. This made us think, but then its just on paper and probably was way too costly.
On the appointed day we drove to Annapolis, which is a wonderful town. We welcome any excuse to visit as a balm against our current landlocked existence. We planned to take a look at the Passport line, enjoy the town again and go back to working on the details for the Malo purchase. Seven hours later, things had changed. If you are ever thinking of buying a boat make sure in your schedule you leave some time near the end of your selection process to pause and let the magic of chance have a shot. You won’t be disappointed. We spent a long time going over all aspects of the construction of Passport’s. We focused on the 470 aft cockpit as it suited our long term needs best. Thom would not have it any other way. He understood what we were planning on doing and knew we what we needed. The construction methods and materials are first rate. The hull is our preferred solid construction, as opposed to a cored hull. Kevlar mat is introduced in the hull lay-up forward of the keel as a standard feature. We would have had to add that to the Malo. As testament to the hull strength Hurricane Katrina hit one of these on the Mississippi coast, and it was found upright three miles inland between a steel houseboat and a building. The surveyor found no structural hull damage. Our kind of hull! The deck attachment is strong and watertight and the standard boat systems well thought out and aligned with our concepts. There is no bolt on keel, the ballast is dropped and epoxied into the hull. What modifications we would require were more straight forward than the other boat, and in many cases had been anticipated. Now keep in mind, we were still just talking about these boats. Then we got to step on several. At that point, the definition of “just right” changed.
Seeing is believing, and after close inspection of two 470’s it was clear that indeed they measure up to the literature and talk. The deck layout and cockpit were comfortable and un-cramped. The aft deck (the 470’s have a counter stern) and resultant extra storage aft of the cockpit was outstanding. The interior is well-executed, large sea going galley, excellent nav-station, comfortable (but seaway safe) salon and excellent cabins (2) really made an impression. The engine is low and near the center of the boat, much like on Dix’s Shearwater’s. Storage was impressive. It is surprising how much room aft there is when the engine is not mounted behind the companionway.
This is Bob Perry’s first computer aided designed cruiser from the mid ’90’s. Everything looked good on paper. Best try it out. The next weekend we went back to Annapolis to sail one. Mind you this was the weekend before Thanksgiving. It has been warm on the east coast this fall but on the day we went out Mother Nature decided to get more serious about winter. It was cold and the wind was supposed to be light. Undeterred we bundled up and shoved off after a bit of a breeze came up. We sailed the boat on various points of sail, and had a nice, but short, period of brisk blow to weather. In short, the boat was stiff and had good legs. Again, the phrase “just right” went flying through our minds.
To be fair a Passport 470 is a shade larger than what we were originally looking for, but on balance not much. The rig is big but manageable. The hull is a few feet longer than our target length but allot of that is the fantail that goes with the counter stern arrangement. Compromises like these are part of choosing a boat. We liked the Malo, but fell truly in love with the Passport 470.
Fortunately, this was not a Greek tragedy. The economics, considering all aspects and required changes to both our previous candidate boat and the 470 worked out favorably. Our true love will in fact be ours. It seems we will be traveling to China and there will be a Passport 470 with the name Makara plying the waters in the not too distant future.