Lynne Maire is a 27ft masthead sloop built by Watkins in 1980. She has a 10ft beam so she’s a stout little thing, certainly not the fastest, but she’s for cruising and living, not racing, and that 10ft sure does make her roomy in the cabin. Built in Florida with the Bahama’s in mind she has a shoal draft keel, drawing 3’8, with an over sized rig. Watkins are known for being rugged little cruisers, and while I can’t say for sure I’m ready to make any Atlantic or Pacific crossing on a boat her size, (although many have done so in smaller vessels and before GPS) I’m confident in her ability to get me anywhere in the Caribbean my heart desires, and that’s certainly a start. If you’re interested in more about her technical specs follow this link
www.watkinsowners.com/w27.htm
The Day I Sealed The Deal
I bought Lynne Marie October 1st, 2011. She’d been anchored out in the Indian River near Melbourne, FL, just 15 miles from where I was in Merritt Island. It was a sunny day with a brisk north wind and I had a great crew of trusted gals along for the ride. The trip was fun and full of excitement but mostly uneventful. We motor sailed the whole way, headed due north with the wind in our face and forced to stay within the channel of the shallow Banana River. Her little diesel putted right along and I had her tied up to a dock just a half a block from my apartment by mid afternoon.
That’s when the real fun began. Broke my lease, sold, trashed, or gave away every land lubber commodity I owned, and started work on my new home. I quickly learned that much like myself, boats have their own time frame for everything. My moving aboard date went from Nov. 1st to Dec. 1st, until finally I found myself settled aboard Jan 1st, no complaints, a refreshing start to the new year. Those first 3 months were filled with cleaning, sanding, cleaning, grinding, cleaning, epoxying, cleaning, painting, and more cleaning. I cannot stress the cleaning enough, which is funny because when I first saw the boat I thought it was SO clean for an old boat, and that’s what I told everyone. “It’s SO clean!” Then for the next 3 months anytime some would ask what I was up to, my response always seemed to be “cleaning my boat”… it’s true love is blind.
New Ports From New Found Metals
By the time January 1st rolled around I had;
- Installed 4 new opening ports…it was almost 3…when I first placed the order I’d forgotten about the port in the head…truly out of sight out of mind
- Replaced the forward hatch, which I somehow managed to score used but in good condition for $50!
- Installed a new Head
- Had all new cushions made for the cabin
- Cut a 10 inch foam mattress from with an electric carving knife to fit my V-berth, and somehow managed to shove the thing in there with some help from friends
- Painted all my holds and hanging locker
- Sanded all the teak trim
- Cleaned every nook, cranny & crevasse about a thousand times….this of course will never end 🙂
With the cabin finally CLEAN, comfortable and dry, I moved what belongings I still owned on board and so began my Life Afloat.
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Sea Hevey 