A new boat for the Brio II trio! (in Rose Haven, MD)

We bought another boat!

Yes, yes, I know you’re not supposed to own two boats at once. But when I decide I’m ready to do something, I don’t like to waffle for too long. I’m more of a jump-and-figure-it-out-along-the-way type… Build your wings while you fall off the cliff, change the wheels on the bus while you’re driving down the highway, that kind of thing.

So after over a year of waffling and boat-shopping, when we found Brio II, we knew. No waffling, no ifs, no time wasted — she was the one.

We visited the boat twice, let Zephyr try out an afternoon nap in the vberth, negotiated an offer, packed as much of our stuff into Jon’s truck as we could physically fit, drove 12 hours up and down and back up to the Chesapeake, and moved onboard before we’d even officially closed on the boat.

Can you tell we were just a little bit excited??

Sabre 42' CB sailboat - interior looking aft

It’s been 4 weeks of life aboard Brio II, and we are still so HAPPY to be here. Yes, our days are full of projects, and yes, we’d love to be on the move south again — but we’re focusing on enjoying the journey, and in this case — the projects along the way!

While I don’t personally know a ton about Sabre 42’s, I’m rapidly learning. I’ll try to put together a little resource page at some point, similar to the one I’ve been curating on Nor’West 33s.

What I do know is that Sabre 42’s are Maine-built centerboard sloops, with two cabins and two heads (!!!), a cored hull and deck, tons of light and air from 8 opening hatches, and so many opening ports I haven’t actually managed to count them all yet.

Sabres also have a nice mix of traditional-feeling finishes (like a teak interior that reminds us of Brio’s beautiful woodwork) with more modern touches (like a huge comfy cockpit and spacious shower area built into the aft head).

The 42′ of length and 12’8″ of beam don’t hurt either 😉

Brio II draws 4’9″ with the board up and 8’6″ with the board down — reportedly. We already know the ICW will help us confirm our exact draft!

She was repowered in 2004 with a Westerbeke 44B, which was a big draw for us. Having the new Beta in Brio was such a source of confidence and relief, we really didn’t want to deal with another 1980s engine.

Granted we discovered a leaking exhaust manifold within the first week of ownership and our alternator refuses to put out more than 5 amps at a time, but what else is new??

In other words — we bought a diamond in the rough. Eyes wide open, knowing we’d need to tackle some fairly large and potentially-daunting projects, we pulled the trigger on a bit of a fixer-upper.

We may regret this at some point 😉

But when faced with the choice of a boat loan for an “already refit” Sabre 42 or buying one that needed some love for cash, the answer — for us, at least — was easy. Sweat equity, patience and persistence are tools we’re very familiar with, and we hope they’ll pay off in this instance too. (Remind me of this when I’m whining about how much work Brio II is, okay? 😉 )

It also means that we don’t have quite as much pressure to get the original Brio ready to sell and listed. Our intention is to eventually sail Brio II down to Lady’s Island, finish moving off of Brio, get her listed, and then hang around the area for a few months while we (hopefully!) sell Brio and likely do more projects on Brio II (deck core replacement, anyone??).

Obviously plans are subject to change and random new whims by the crew 🙂 But that’s where we’re at currently.

More to come as we dig into our new home!

– LMK


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A new boat for the Brio II trio! (in Rose Haven, MD) — 1 Comment

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