Bamboozle......we're back!
Bamboozle
Jamie and Lucy Telfer
Thu 26 Jun 2008 00:44
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26:05.485N 080:09.513W
Well, the blog is back again a bit sooner than
we thought!
It is very exciting to be able to report that
we have managed to find and purchase a replacement for dear old Savoir
Vivre, fooling anyone who thought we might be considering "swallowing the
anchor" and settling back on land. Bamboozle is a French built Amel Super Maramu 2000 and represents quite a
change from our days on a lightweight speedy
cruiser-racer. We have opted for
something a bit bigger (53ft) and a bit more substantial with, as
the more observant of you may notice, two masts. She has a great big deep
centre cockpit with a hard dodger (to keep the waves out) and
lots and lots of features to make living and cruising more
comfortable. She is quite new having only been built in 2003 and
represents many years of progressive development by the builders Chantiers Amel
in La Rochelle. Quite a few ocean miles ago, we started thinking and
discussing more precisely, exactly what it was we wanted in our "dream" long
distance cruiser and in Bamboozle we think and hope we have found exactly what
we are after without having to go out and build it for ourselves.
We have been amazed by the amount of thought that has gone into the design
and engineering and despite her size she has been very much built to
be sailed by a small crew in comfort and safety.
We found and bought her here in Ft Lauderdale,
Florida where we have been staying with brother Mole and his wife
and daughter, Mandy and Charlie. Sadly the sunshine state is also
home at this time of year to violent thunderstorms and over the next few months
the possibility of a hurricane increases as the sea temperature
rises. Understandably, our insurance company are keen we remove ourselves
from the area of greatest threat and we plan to move north' up the east coast of
the USA as soon as we have properly familiarized ourselves with Bamboozle
and her systems. We have also hauled her out for a quick coat of anti-foul
and to change the main shaft seal and service the bow thruster (how
grown-up is that!). We plan to re-launch in the morning and hope to
spend our first night aboard in Bahia Mar Marina just off the intra-coastal
waterway. We will then have to make a quick hop over to Bimini in the
Bahamas to export the boat and then we will be heading for Cape Hatteras
and beyond.
As you can see from the photos we have already had
a couple of visitors. Mole and Mandy have looked after us
wonderfully and made us so welcome. Without their help the last few weeks
would not have been nearly as straight forward and they even turned up with a
bottle of champagne to welcome us to our new home. Our great mate David
Thompson even managed to take a fleeting break from a business trip routed
via Miami to come check on what we are up to. We look forward to welcoming
more of you to our new guest suite.
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