Meet the new Anita Marie

Our first trip in the Nordic Tug (informally named Anita Marie 3, officially named Anita Marie) was as special as the boat itself. We had the Stuart Island Marine Park to ourselves. No campers and no boats in either Reid or Prevost harbors. We've been going there for nearly 20 years and never saw that happen before. 

A little backstory...

In my previous post I talked about why we moved to a bigger boat. Here's a little backstory on how we chose this one...

It was actually simple. We decided to sell. We wanted to buy before leaving for Arizona. Because a whole winter without a boat (that we weren't even using) was unimaginable. There were three boats available. One was well equipped but had a lot of engine hours. Another had fewer hours, but didn't feel as well maintained. Then there was Loon.
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She cost the most by far. But she looked brand new and the reasons were obvious: The prior owner was meticulous in both caring for and documenting every detail of the boat. The records made buying and learning to use the boat much less stressful. From deciding to sell the C-Dory to buying the Nordic Tug took just over a month. The C-Dory sold by word of mouth in less than a day.

​So, it was quick.

We happened to run into the prior owner when we picked up the boat. I thanked him for his exemplary maintenance efforts. He blushed and said I could "talk to his therapist about them." I'd asked our broker why the fellow, who's 83, decided to sell Loon. Answer? "He wanted a bigger and faster boat." Makes me feel great about being able to use the boat as long as it takes to pay for her!  

Here's a closer look

Not only was it pretty great to have Reid Harbor to ourselves, it was also great to be able to practice docking and mooring without an audience. Fred's having to build all new muscle memory to be able to put the boat where he wants it in any location or weather condition.

Happily, I just have to grab the dock and hold on....Actually, that's easier said than done. It's a longer way down from the boat to the dock now. And when you're used to just grabbing a boat and yanking it around, which is easy with a C-Dory, you're in for a shock when you try moving a boat with more than a couple inches of hull under water. Gotta build up the old guns. Given the tight spot where we're mooring the boat, getting good at docking is a huge deal.