Happy Two Year Anniversary

We took possession of our Outer Reef 63 on February 10, 2014. Therefore, today marks the second anniversary of our ownership of the boat and of living aboard. 

Thinking back two years to those commissioning days brings back memories which, while mostly pleasant, are best characterized as both exciting and chaotic. 

February 3, 2014 - Chaos - Salon looking forward

More chaos - galley looking aft
Notice the cardboard covering the floor

What brought about the chaos was the calendar. The 63 arrived in Fort Lauderdale on February 2 after a 13,000 mile journey that involved crossing the Pacific Ocean, transiting the Panama Canal, crossing the Gulf of Mexico and, finally, arriving in Port Everglades.

The clock started the next day as Outer Reef made a full court press to get the 63 ready for the February 14th Miami Boat Show. To complicate matters, we wanted to take possession and move aboard prior to departing for the show on February 11. Given that Outer Reef usually takes a month or more to commission a new boat, the accelerated schedule put us all under stress (except, of course for Kodi who handled the whole process with her usual grace).

Outer Reef got the boat ready "enough" and we moved aboard on February 10. The next day, with Captain Randy Ives in command, we headed off to the Miami Boat Show.

Will miracles never cease?

Fast forward to today. 

The 63 has proven to be a comfortable home and a magnificent cruiser that has proved to be perfect for our snowbird lifestyle.

Her capabilities as a long range cruiser with the ability to handle rough seas are summed up by an advertisement featuring Guided Discovery that Outer Reef will be running across all of the major boating magazines.

The quote above, which is slightly hard to read, deals with our November 3, 2014 transition of Cape Hatteras as we headed south to Sarasota. "We transited during a strong cold frontal passage with wind gusts as high as 49 knots, Seas built very quickly to 7 to 9 feet with sustained winds of 30 to 35 knots. The 630 showed no flaws in her sea keeping regardless of the point of sail. The experience was almost surreal. The boat moved through the turbulence with sure footed stability. Now I know from experience how stable she is and should the unexpected happen, the boat can handle it."

As readers know, I subsequently had the opportunity last May to validate the above conclusion when we rounded Hatteras' Diamond Shoal in 10 to 12 footers stirred up by Tropical Storm Anna several hundred miles to the south. Oh, did I mention the 10 foot head sea encountered last November between the Hamptons and Atlantic City? The 63's sea keeping has exceeded my expectations.

Even when it's not exciting, which I greatly prefer, the 63 glides through the water at 8.4 knots burning an economical 9.1 gallons per hour. To date, the 63 has cruised 6,613 NM with two round trips along the Atlantic coast.

The 63 is a comfortable 850 square foot 3 bedroom home with 2 baths and a full kitchen. Notice the absence of nautical language. This really is a home in every possible way except that we have to take-on 300 gallons water and pump out weekly. Best of all, it's a home on the water with excellent views in both our Sarasota and Hingham marinas. Diana's viewpoint of life aboard is published in conjunction with this article.

For readers who are interested in more thorough description of living aboard, see my April 22, 2015 article "Living on an Outer Reef 63." For those who want to relive the excitement of commissioning and the Miami Boat Show, go back to the February 2014 archives. I think I'll take a pass. Just reading it is stressful.

Since taking delivery we have made very few improvements to the boat, which is a credit to Mike Schlichtig and his team at Outer Reef. They helped us spec out the perfect boat for our needs. 

That said, we have made two significant improvements to the pilothouse electronics. These include a Raymarine T353 infrared night vision camera added last November and a third Garmin 7215 multi-function screen added just this month. Both improvements were necessitated by my desire to run 24 hours a day along the Atlantic coast. The addition of the third 7215 screen on the right side of the panel required that we move the starboard Garmin GMI 10 to a new location next to the other one. Beyond improving operational efficiency, the result proved to be aesthetically pleasing. 

New Garmin 7215 MFS added to the right side of the panel
Note the two GMI 10s immediately to the left of the three 7215s
Left of the GMI 10s is the GOST system and controls for the 12 & 16 KW generators

Written by Les.