We have a boat name!

After many, many walks around the block in the evenings, we have decided on a name!

 Sailing Vessel Mira (SV Mira for short)

Here is a link to the YouTube video where we announce the name.

What makes naming a boat so hard is that you can choose from a lot of different types of names.  You can be "funny/punny" and name a boat something like Knot Working, or Never Again 2.  You can name a boat after a concept or a feeling, like Tranquility, Respite or Traveler.  And you can, of course, name your boat using a proper name; traditionally a girl's name, but something simple like Jenny, or as in friends of ours, Greek Goddess.

Given that this boat will be our home, we quickly ruled out funny/punny names.  That just doesn't seem right.

BUT, we got stuck for a while on concept/feeling names and just a traditional girl's name.  We both brainstormed and came up with lists.  We then bounced them off one-another and looked into their meanings.  Names that meant things like "trusting" or "sinky" were quickly eliminated.

So what made us decide on Mira?

Vision 444 - Key West Boat Show

 Key West Boat Show and Additional Information on the Vision Yachts 444

Summary

We had a great trip down to Key West (okay, actually it was the next island up; Stock Island). The Stock Island Marina Village and adjoining Perry Hotel are absolutely beautiful.  If you are in the area and need a place to stay (and have the means!), it is a great resort.  We were fortunate in that we booked it early for the event and got the room at 1/3 the price it was the week leading up to the boat show.  Admittedly, it was Spring Break, so that may be their peak price for the year for all I know.

We had spoken to Tommy and Amy from Sail Away Catamarans a few times before the event and even had a chance to speak with Thomas and Terri, the owners of Kon-Tiki ahead of time too.  What an absolutely great group of people!

Additional Information

Over 100 YouTube Subscribers!

Thanks to all of our YouTube subscribers for helping us get over 100 subscribers!!

We are now at 104 subscribers a few days later!

We Launched our YouTube Channel

We Launched our YouTube Channel!

We recently launched our YouTube Channel and posted our first video!  

Here is the link to your channel.

Here is the link to our first video.

Check 'em out and let us know your thoughts!

Sue and Mike

Not the Easter Cruise we had planned

Friday, April 11, 2020

This weekend was supposed to be the Easter Cruise to the Beaufort, NC docks BUT, that got canceled because that town doesn’t want us.

So instead of that, we’re doing some maintenance that’s been on my list for a while, namely replacing the coolant pump on the engine.

Everyone that’s ever worked on a boat will tell you that everything takes twice as long as normal.
Well, when the town your boat is located in is on a Covid-19 lockdown that prohibits non-residents from basically going into town, that makes things even more challenging.

Fortunately, everyone in the boating community in Oriental is awesome and willing to help as they can. So we can still call businesses, place an order, give a CC number and they will deliver to your slip! Shout out to Pat, Lori and Teresa at IWPC, and Jim at Bow to Stern Boating!!

The front of the engine had some surface corrosion and missing paint, seemingly from leaking coolant at some point in her past. While the pump and belt were off, it seemed to be the right time to wire brush and enamel paint those areas. Walmart was out of Yanmar Grey engine enamel so black will have to do.

Deciding to do this certainly added a lot of time, but it was worth it since everything was accessible. I also wasn’t thrilled using a spray can inside, but we opened some hatches, turned on a fan and it was fine.  Given the challenging work conditions, it came out pretty good!