Move to Siesta Key

“Your house just sailed past my house!”

It was Bud Raoul arriving breathlessly at the cottage to tell me that Bucher had turned into Coconut Bayou with our new boat. I dropped suitcases and brooms and grabbed children to go meet him. Bucher secured the boat as we got there and we all sat on the bank looking at him rather helplessly across the few feet of water that separated us. Able to stand it no longer, I waded out carrying the children, and we were hauled dripping and bedraggled onto the afterdeck.

Our boat is an Elco, built in 1930, 35′ length, 11′ beam (neither as long nor as wide as we hoped). Bucher had found her in Bradenton a couple of days earlier. He took her out in the Gulf and he put her on the ways to make sure she was sound. This morning, I had driven him back to Bradenton so he could bring her down to our property on Siesta Key.

She is a sound old boat, not bad looking but no glamour-puss. She has a small after-cockpit, large enough for two deck chairs. Double sliding doors open into the deckhouse. It is poorly arranged with settees facing each other along the sides, a high, well-upholstered helmsman’s seat and a matching seat on the other side of the cabin. We already have plans for tearing out some of the built-in stuff to give us more room. The deckhouse will be a good size when we do. Down two very steep steps is a compact but quite roomy galley with the tiny head (bathroom) and a hanging locker (closet) across from it. Beyond that is the forward cabin with two very comfortable lower bunks and two usable upper bunks. There are lockers under the bunks and at the end of each bunk, a tall locker with several shelves. The hatch, which opens at the extreme end of the cabin, has a good set of screens and a canvas wind-sail that makes a good air sheet and keeps it very comfortable. The hatch opens into a forward cockpit with very comfortable seats for three people to sit while cruising.

She isn’t as large as we wanted. However, she is about the size boat Bucher wants to keep, and he is talking about cutting down the deckhouse later to make her a sport-fisherman (much longer after-cockpit to make room for a couple of stationary fishing chairs). We’d still have bunks for four in the forward cabin if we wanted to be gone overnight. However, this boat won’t be for extended cruises (West Indies) and we can’t do that till the children are older anyway, so the lack of cabin room doesn’t matter too much.

We have lots of work to do. Bucher had her bottom painted while she was out of the water for inspection, but he is going to do the hull over. And the decks have some bad varnish work that we are going to paint since it will brighten her up and is easier to take care of. Inside, the forward cabin, galley, and head need scouring, but the paint is fresh enough to do for some time. The deckhead (ceiling) in the deckhouse needs paint, and the floor will need new linoleum when we finish remodeling. The previous owner has redone all the upholstered things in the deckhouse in Duran (which is wonderful)…but plum color (which isn’t). I’m warming on a decor that can begin with purplish Duran and end without being bilious.

Since we don’t have electricity on the lot yet or water in the tank on board, we have decided to spend the night in the little cottage and move tomorrow.