How it all began

At last, splash day! This is the day that the boat makes the eight or nine block trip through the narrow streets from the boatyard to the boat ramp.

Today marks three weeks since we arrived in Argentina. We have established our favorite streets to stroll and stores to shop for groceries and supplies, as well as some favorite establishments to enjoy beers and food, and although it goes against everything we’ve preached for the past twenty plus years, it may actually be cheaper …

The Argentina Chapter – Part 2 Read More »

I don’t know how many of you have made a big move like this: one-way to a different country (after several downsizes)–but I admire every one of you who has. Whatever your circumstances and added challenges, whether children, pets, loss, complete change in life–or nothing adding extra challenges at all–this is a big deal. I …

The Argentina Chapter – Part 1 Read More »

Since we were here for the holiday anyway, we went ahead and dreamed of a white Christmas, and Santa didn’t disappoint. We also dreamed of getting a firmer splash date from the boat builder so we could work on our flights and figure out how to get our three cats down to Argentina with us. Santa brought not only that, but also Dove chocolates with wrappers that said “Book the Flight”, so we went for it!

The first Antares Hybrid catamaran, Lonna, splashed earlier this month, so we’ll be getting more updates and more photos from the factory in the coming month, but not until the sea trials and commissioning of Lonna are completed. They are testing out the new electric hybrid motors and trialing two different propellers to determine which one will give the best regeneration under sail. The winner of that contest will become the standard on all the upcoming new hybrids, of which ours is next. We are very happy not to have Sorella be the guinea pig, but we are a bit envious of everyone who was there for all the excitement.

We received the following photos of Sorella (sorry some are a bit dark), which is in the process of getting the deck glued onto the hull. Speaking of hull, we just learned that the US Coast Guard considers our catamaran a monohull, since the hull is actually one solid mold, rather than two separate hulls affixed to a top piece. We’ve just sent in our Application for Initial Documentation from the US Coast Guard, which required a form from the factory with all our boat-build info. The completion schedule from the USCG is estimated to be about two months for this application, so the timing should be perfect.

We’ve decided to go ahead and put Marlborough, NH as our port of call on the transom (back of the boat). This is not glamorous, nor is it even a city on the coast, but it is where we’ve made our official permanent residence, and where we will register the boat (which we have heard conflicting information about its necessity when one has USCG documentation). Since New Hampshire doesn’t have personal property tax, this could potentially save us a chunk of change, should some state along the coast feel the need to insist our boat needs state registration, which requires paying property tax on the value of the boat.

We’ve gotten lots of new photos from the factory and Sorella is really coming along. I was going to say she’s starting to look like a boat, but the photos still need quite a bit of explanation to the untrained eye.