The Quest Begins; or is that continues!

It has been almost a year since we said good bye to our pristine little trawler "MV Kozad".  

Since then, we have taken time to evaluate what is important in our lives and in how we wish to spend our retirement.  We love the boating life and truly miss not being on the water...... therefore the quest continues to find the right boat, within the right budget, to fit our goals.

Our initial goal was to wait two years to find the right boat; really that was the agreement???  So if that was the case, then how come the last 12 months has seen Craig doing a lot of research and evaluating our full time live aboard cruising dreams.  Well, really did you really think he could wait two years.....

So, not even 12 months since we handed over MV Kozad to Richard and Mary Anne; "we" once again are searching for the right boat!  Not really a big surprise is it.....

The boat we are hoping to find will be a Full Displacement Hull, Long Range Cruising Trawler;  one which can be safely operated by a couple while living full time and traveling to distant shores.  

We are wanting to find the right boat within our budget and we would like to find "The Best Boat For The Best Price!"  Dreaming, well maybe just a little bit, although we hope not and that in the next 12 to 18 months we can find the right boat!!!!

We have though learned that the saying "all boats are a compromise" is to be the case!  But regardless, we do have a list of wants and needs, including a few compromises in respect to what we are looking for in our next boat:

• Raised Pilot House
• Full Displacement Hull (FDH)
• Stabilization: Paravanes or Active Fins
• Single Engine
• Efficient Long Range Cruising Capabilities
• Covered Aft Deck
• Flybridge
• Auxiliary Power or Sail Assist (a want but not a deal breaker)
• Safety & Reliability Are Priorities
• Size: 40 to 48 Feet OAL
• A Well Maintained Vessel: Mechanical, Structural, Systems & Cosmetic!
• Within Budget....  darn!

 There are basically three boats which we have think would fit our cruising needs but not necessarily our budget!

 Diesel Duck 462

Steel FDH Trawler 

Price Range: $450 to $550K USD
Too much over budget!

Kadey Krogen 42

Fiberglass FDH Trawler

Price Range: $175 to $375K USD
The older KK42 are within our budget!

 

   Nordhavn 46

Fiberglass FDH Trawler

 Price Range: $350K to $650K USD 
An older well maintained N46 may be an option, 
only if the price is within budget!

The Krogen 42 is the most affordable of these three boats, the Krogen has a loyal following with 203 hulls built between 1977 and 1998.  There is a reasonable selection of KK42 on the market within our price range. These are excellent boats but they are getting older!

The Diesel Duck is a very nice LRC built of steel; these boats do not come on the market very often.  Although we very much like the features of this boat the price range is of concern.

The Nordhavn 46 is the boat we are drawn to; having first stepped on one in 2003 when we first starting looking at boats!  Love at first sight can best describe how we felt and still feel about the the Nordhavn 46!  

These are a great boat with 82 hulls being built between 1988 to 2003.  There is a flybridge option which we like; also what is nice is the Portuguese Bridge which protects the Pilot House from the seas!  As in most cases year depicts the price!  Nordhavns maintain a high resale value..

Budget will definitely dictate what we choose for our next boat :)

In the first week of February we are taking a drive to Anacortes, Washington area where we are going to view a Nordhavn 46 and a Krogen 42 so we can get a current feel for what we are wanting.  The research continues!

More to come....

Our Final Cruise!

How Much Does This Hurt!

You may have heard that old saying; "the two happiest days in a boaters life is when he buys his boat and sells his boat!"

Well, we will tell you this is not the case, at least for us!

Selling Kozad was a difficult decision and the final steps in the selling process have been at times painful and emotional. Kozad has been a great little ship for us; safe, seaworthy, comfortable and most importantly provided us with a platform to learn cruising and how to handle a boat!


Our Last Cruise on Kozad:
April 2nd, 2011 was our final cruise on Kozad; moving our boat from Anacortes to her (Anne's) new home in Friday Harbour!

We met the new owners, Richard and Mary Anne, at the Anacortes Ferry Dock. They came over as foot passengers on the Friday Harbour ferry at 1210hrs! The weather was foul in the morning, with winds, rain and the occasional squall which threatened to postpone our departure.

Richard & Mary Anne
Happy New Owners

Amazingly at 1230hrs the winds calmed, skies cleared and sun came out allowing us to depart Anchor Cove Marina at 1240 for the three hour cruise to Friday Harbour.

Craig's last trip on Kozad

At the Helm one last time!
Jan loves boating and especially piloting the ship.

Richard & Mary Anne
Enjoying their first cruise on Anne!

Our good friends Richard and Gwen on Northstar (Willard 40) asked if they could join in on Kozad's last cruise! They graciously offered to escort us to Friday Harbour and would provide us with a return ride home to Anacortes!

Northstar Entering Port of Friday Harbour

Richard and Gwen on Northstar
It was nice sharing this moment and company helped ease the pain!

Our last cruise on Kozad also provided the opportunity to familiarize Richard and Mary Anne with their new boat; and as always Kozad/Anne performed flawlessly!

Calm Seas, Light Winds and Sunshine
A Great Last Day on Kozad!

Great day for a cruise through the San Juan Islands!
Kozad enroute to Friday Harbour

New Home: Port of Friday Harbour

We arrived in Friday Harbour at 1550hrs and berthed Anne on E Dock, next to Richard & Mary Anne's other Willard MV Pearl. Pearl was awaiting shipping to her new owner who lives in Windsor, Ontario and is to be trucked across the USA after being loaded onto a low bed trailer at Skyline Marina, Anacortes, Wa. sometime this month.

Kozad/Anne next to Pearl

Kozad/Anne's new home at the Port of Friday Harbour
Friday Harbour is one of our favorite destinations in the San Juans

Notice how dirty Kozad's bum is!!!!

Once Kozad/Anne and Northstar were both securely docked , the six of us (Richard & Mary Anne, Richard & Gwen, Craig & Jan) met on Anne to celebrate the change of ownership, giving up our great little boat to the new owners!

One very happy couple!
Congratulations Richard & Mary Anne
MV ANNE

Celebration Time.... how about some bubbly?

New owner Richard under great pressure, but with tremendous skill, uncorked two bottles of Champagne for the celebration. We sat on board and enjoyed the moment, then we all went out to dinner at one of Friday Harbour's newer restaurants for a great meal!

Richard with the Special Bottle of Bubbly!

Getting ready for the toast.... uncorked with great skill!


Party Time!

Cheers to "Motor Vessel Anne"

A few small tokens for Richard & Mary Anne!

Our Last Night On Board!

Richard and Mary Anne were very kind and allowed us the use of Anne while we were in Friday Harbour. On Saturday night we slept one last time on board Kozad/Anne; our last evening spent on a boat we love dearly!

The Last Cleaning!

As usual, Craig was up early (0630) on Sunday, having to clean and polish the boat one last time! This man is totally obsessed with keeping our boat immaculate! Craig will miss his ritual of maintaining, cleaning, waxing and polishing our boat!

Craig washing Kozad's Bum!
Have to get all that exhaust off the stern!

Cleaning once again!
Does it ever stop....

It is a wonder he has never fallen in!
Hey, where is your life jacket!!!!

The Trip Home on Northstar!

Well it is finally over! On Sunday at noon, we handed off the last set of keys to Richard and Mary Anne and said good bye before returning to Anacortes on Northstar!

The trip home on Northstar was also an opportunity for us to receive a few pointers on how to operate a Willard 40; Richard (W40) demonstrated the skill in handling such a big boat off and onto the docks! It is amazing how much bigger a W40 is compared to a W30!

Jan and Richard
Preparing for the return trip home!

The two Captains on the flybridge!
Our next boat needs one of these, a flybridge not another Captain!

Returning to Anchor Cove Marina!
Northstar is way bigger than Kozad.
Richard docked Northstar perfectly without a hitch!

Saying Good Bye!

Kozad has served us well over 4 cruising seasons. Our little ship provided us with a stable and safe platform to learn our coastal boating skills!

The Willard 30, and in particular the Voyager plan is a great couples boat; one which safely took us on many adventures and gave us such great memories. Kozad attracted a lot of attention on the dock as well as on the water. This resulted in us meeting a lot of people who were curious and attracted to our boat! Kozad amazed them all!

Salish Sea
Newly named for the Pacific North West Waters
from South Sound to Desolation Sound inclusive

We have cruised the waters of the Salish Sea; north of Campbell River to the far reaches of South Sound in Washington State!

Kozad provided us the opportunity to ply the waters of Puget Sound, the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Georgia while exploring the San Juan and Gulf Islands, the East Coast of Vancouver Island and the West Coast of British Columbia.

We have cruised solitary inlets and bays while chartering our course to Princess Louisa Inlet, have anchored, moored and docked in so many wonderful locations; and Craig especially enjoyed "Urban Cruising" while docking downtown Tacoma and Seattle!

Boating has been a passion of Craig's since he was 14, so many years ago! Boating has become a part of our lives and we have been especially blessed in meeting so many wonderful people while on board Kozad!

Our last image of Kozad as we departed for Anacortes!

No one is home!
Slip B-55 at Anchor Cove Marina

Where did Kozad go?


A New Chapter Begins!

We are pleased to have sold our boat so quickly and to such nice people;
we have no regrets about selling Kozad but maybe a little sadness!
Although, both of us are unsure how we feel about not having a boat,
nor about giving up our time on the water!

Our goal is now to charter various boats in different locals,
so that we may better determine what our next boat will be!

The plan is to wait two years before we find our next boat.

.......but you never know!

Motor Vessel Kozad
2007 to 2011

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Another Note

Not A Good Day!

On our last morning in Anacortes we saw this unfortunate sight.
The Cap Sante Boat Haven fuel docks have a shallow area to the SE.
We were told not to leave the dock in this direction when we fueled up here!
We wonder if this Skipper was given this advice?

Tug On The Rocks
Nordic Tug 42 on the rocks!
The small boat at the dock is Vessel Assist for the tow,
but he will have to wait for the tide to come in first!


Ouch, that has to hurt!
Not sure if the skipper is feeling worse than his boat!

I was once told there are three types of boaters:Those who have gone a ground,
Those who will go a ground,
and those who lie about not having gone a ground!

Decision Made!

Step one at least......

The decision to change our boating requirements has been made, we have decided to sell Koazad. We had two brokers look at our boat and give us a price on what a fair market value would be for Kozad.

The plan was, we were to make all the arrangements to place Kozad on the market in the spring of 2011. We know selling a boat can be a long process! This was fine with us as we would use this time to cruise Kozad in the spring and summer.


Fast forward, step two to finished real quick like!!!!

Kozad will have new owners as of 2nd April, 2011. This is when we will move Kozad to Friday Harbour and the "deal finalized"!

Owners: Richard and Mary Anne from Friday Harbor, Washington

Home Port: Port of Friday Harbour, San Juan Island, Washington

New Name: "Anne"

Background: We met Richard and Mary Anne aboard MV Pearl, their Willard 30 Nomad, on September 21st, 2007 at the PNW Willard Rendezvous held at the Point Hudson Marina in Port Townsend, Washington.

MV Pearl
1974 Willard 30 Nomad
Richard & Mary Anne's Boat before Anne/Kozad

Since that time, we have become good friends and see one another every year while boating!

We unknowingly met at the Discovery Marina in Campbell River, where gale force winds had us both stuck on the docks for three days in June, 2009.

Richard and Mary Anne hosted us at their home in 2009 serving us Rich's secret crab cake recipe, and gave us a tour of San Juan Island.

Richard, Mary Anne & Jan

New Owners of Kozad or should we say Anne!

Richard and Mary Anne have always liked the layout of our W30 Voyager Kozad! This layout is totally different than their Nomad. Our Voyager is called a wide body, a design which provides additional living space and significant room for 30 foot boat.

As a matter of fact, enough room so that Rich may have a nice chair to sit and read a book while sipping a glass of Famous Grouse Scotch!

Richard has always admired the level to which Kozad has been refitted and how upgraded, and outfitted the boat. He has made comment. on numerous occasions, as to "I really like your boat" and on one or more occasions may have noted, "if you ever want to sell Kozad, you just let us know"!

And that is precisely what happened!

Richard and Craig were talking after our 2010 cruising and once Richard heard we were considering moving up to a bigger boat, that was it! One thing led to another, an offer made and accepted; and we were left with our heads spinning!

Over the next couple of months we spent a lot of time going over the details, arrangements, time lines, and Kozad's specs (view http://willard30voyager.blogspot.com/p/mv-kozad-specifications.html).

Richard had to now sell his boat "Pearl", a process which he began and was quickly successful in finding a buyer from Windsor, Ontario, Canada! The new owner has to ship Pearl by truck to Ontario and the timing of this sale was planned to coincide with the closing of Kozad's sale.

In January Richard and Mary Anne met us at the marina so they could spend some time looking over Kozad. It was at this time that we made the final arrangements for the survey which we scheduled in February.


Survey Time or Not!!!!

The survey was to take place on February 23rd for the in water and hull surveys. Unfortunately this was scheduled when the severe snow storms hit Anacortes! We were able to have the in water survey completed after some delay; then re-scheduled the hull survey haul-out to take place when we returned from our Florida holiday.

The survey was hampered by 9" of snow in 24 hours!

Haul Out Completed!

It was St. Patrick's Day, 17th March, 2011 when we cruised Kozad over to Cape Sante Boat Yard for the haul-out and survey. It was cold and windy but the sun was shining; it was nice to get back on the water even if it was only for only an hour's cruise.

The survey found no issues nor deficiencies and Kozad was found to be in excellent condition.

Survey Time!
Kozad awaiting haul-out at Cape Sante Boat Yard

Up, up and away!
Kozad being lifted for bottom inspection

Kozad in the slings!

MV Kozad
Hauled & Hung for inspection!


Richard on Kozad
Returning to Anchor Cove Marina from the haul-out

Kozad passed the survey with flying colors;
no items requiring repair, replacing nor concern were found!

Decisions, Decisions.......

Oh, what to do?

Our 2010 cruising season took us up to Northern Vancouver Island, to South Sound and back!

Kozad has been a wonderful small ship, one which has provided us with a means to gain confidence and experience on the water. The past four boating seasons has seen our cruising distances increase and our time spent on the water go from weeks to months!

Our 2010 cruising season saw us on board Kozad for 75 days. We now find ourselves in a position where we are talking more and more about our evolving boating needs, requirements and wants.

Both of us love being on the water and if we are to continue boating we want to expand our cruising experiences; being on board for 6 months or longer, cruising greater distances, experiencing new and unknown destinations! This desire is one which is hard to explain, but one which is very real!

Kozad is very capable of cruising to far off destinations and many owners live full time aboard their Willard 30; traveling North to Alaska and South to Mexico. The Willard is a very safe and comfortable boat! We though, have outgrown Kozad's size and amenities; and are wanting a larger, more comfortable vessel and faster trawler.

If we wish to continue boating; we must make some decisions as to what our cruising style will be and what type of boat we will need to fulfill those needs.

Maybe one of these would do.

Cherubini Independence Trawler

Beautiful USA built 45' Raised Pilot House Trawler


Great Layout! We were on one of these at the Anacortes Boat Show Loved It!!!!

Or one of these Great Harbour N37 which are still being built in USA.
Jan prefers a 37 foot boat over a 45 footer!

Great Harbour 37 Trawler
We like the flybridge model

Twin Engine, Wide Beam of 15'10"
Lots of living space.

Nice Layout

Huge Engine Room


And of course if you wish to travel to far off ports of call!
A Diesel Duck Will Get You There!

Diesel Duck 44 Steel Trawler


Built in Turkey
Beautiful Trawler

Great Ocean Cruising Layout

Bigger toys for bigger boys!

Maybe Craig should just loose weight, then he will not need to go to a bigger boat!

Our son Jim says I should put a parental block on Craig's computer,
so he cannot look at any more boats!

Winter 2010/2011

Baby It Is Cold Outside!

Who would have expected such a cold miserable winter! We were very fortunate that Kozad was under cover in Anacortes at the Anchor Cove Marina!

When we left Kozad in October after completing our 2010 cruising season we were confident that having moved our boat under cover was the right thing to do! Winters are hard on all boats and especially on those that are 37 years old! Being under cover would give us some piece of mind.

Our close friends Richard and Gwen, who have their Willard 40 MV Northstar at the same marina, were kind enough to check on Kozad on a regular basis. But, just to make sure all was well we made regular monthly trips to Anacortes to ensure that there were no problems and that all was well.

During these trips we slept on Kozad, with the exception of February when the weather was so cold that Richard & Gwen took pity on us and offered up the warmth and comfort of Northstar.

That trip in February was something; on the 23rd the morning after we arrive, we had a winter storm in Anacortes that would just not stop.

We awoke to find 4 inches of snow!
It kept coming down until we had 9" in 24 hours!

Craig forgot the snow scraper/brush at home.... Oops!

Kozad protected under cover!
What a relief.

It just kept snowing and snowing!
McDonald's Drive Thru.


Northstar comfort; more like a small apartment than a boat!
The Kabola Hydronic diesel furnace provided lots of heat.

Kozad came through the winter months unscathed by the harsh months of heavy rain, wind and snow!

The only cleaning we had to do to the outside of Kozad was sweep off the dust and dirt which was blown in off of the boat shed roof! A far cry from other years when the outside was covered in black dirt and green growth!

Jan receives full credit and marks for convincing me to move Kozad to Anacortes!

Great work Jan!