La Dolce Vita has new owners

[NoETA]

By way of introduction, Dave and Liz Thomson have bought DA736 from Steve and Helen Eshleman 09/06/24. She's in beautiful shape and shows that she has been well-loved over the years. We're planning a shakedown cruise next week, and then we will tow her to our home in Carson City, NV, another "Desert Albin" port.

We're both retired, Liz from health care management and Dave from electronics engineering. Dave has owned a succession of sailboats, a Cape Dory Typhoon, a Cape Dory 30' Cutter, and a Tanzer 22, which we used to trailer and sail all five of the Great Lakes. As we have aged out of the rigors of deckwork on a sailboat, we have found the Albin 25 to be the perfect fit. We're looking forward to cruising the Northern Puget Sound for the next few years.

Many thanks to Steve for his continued support for the transaction and the excellent documentation and attention to detail to make this transition successful.

[Nancy]

Welcome aboard, Dave and Liz, and congratulations! No question that you bought a great boat!

[WillieC]

Oh the places you will go!

Congratulations.

[DesertAlbin736]

You're very welcome Dave & Liz! Glad to see you on AOG. Rick & Heidi, aka WillieC in Belfair, WA, our buddy boater to Desolation Sound, and Ulf & Elizabeth, aka tribologist in Hartford, CT, our boat buddies on the Erie Canal along with other Albin owners on AOG are great sources of advice and information. We look forward to hearing about you're future adventures in soon to-be-renamed La Dolce Vita. Don't forget to do a proper renaming christening ceremony. You'll never find a better, more friendly, dedicated group of classic antique boat owners than those of Albin 25's & 27's.
My recommendation would be to not limit your cruising grounds to northern Puget Sound, but also, if not next season then later seasons, explore the San Juans, Gulf Islands, towns along the east shore of Vancouver Island such as Victoria, Sydney, Ladysmith, Genoa Bay, Nanaimo, and Comox, as well as the Sunshine Coast & up Jervis Inlet & Princess Louisa Inlet up to Chatterbox Falls, and on up to Desolation Sound (as seen in my video), maybe even the Broughtons which were going to but never made it. I guarantee it will put anything you've seen on the Great Lakes to shame. From what I hear the Great Lakes, except for Apostle Islands, are mostly going from one harbor of refuge to the next. Just remember, in the Pacific Northwest you live & die by the tide tables, because there are some narrow passes and channels you only want to transit at or near slack tide. In the San Juans and Gulf Islands you're never more than a day's run from islands with sheltered bays to anchor in or ports where you can anchor out or take a guest slip. Also there's a great bunch of Albin folks in BC in the Albineers of BC club that holds a series of rendezvous each month in the summer at various ports including Ladysmith, Genoa Bay on Vancouver Island and Telegraph Harbour on Thetis Island and Port Browning on North Pender Island.

A couple of special dates to keep in mind, July 1st, which is Canada Day, and July 4th in Fishermans Bay on Lopez Island in the San Juans. For Canada Day, Sidney on Vancouver Island pulls out all the stops with parades and fireworks and a homemade boat building contest and paddle/row race which is a total hoot. Contestants are given a supply of materials of their choice priced up to a certain limit to be supplied by a sponsoring local lumber company. They then gather at a downtown city park near the water and are given their package of materials and just 4 hours to complete their boats before the race starts. They then build their boats using only hand tools, no powered or cordless saws, drills or other powered tool. Then they launch their homemade jon boats, kayaks, canoes, rafts, or whatever on the beach and paddle a lap around the race course and back to the beach. Some don't make it all the way and end up sinking or swamped along the way, in water that's about 57 degrees.

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Chatterbox Falls is another must see bucket list destination that we did in 2016. It's at the end of a 40 mile fjord, like Alaska without the glaciers.

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Fishermans Bay is a large sheltered anchorage with lots of room once thru the narrow, shallow entrance channel. There are two small marinas and a nice restaurant near the docks. It's about a 2/3rd mile walk down the paved 2 lane road to Lopez village for groceries, a bakery, and other shops. They do a 4th of July parade and excellent fireworks show. Less crowded & touristy than the main town of Friday Harbor on San Juan Island across San Juan Channel from Lopez. We did the 4th there in 2014 and on our last cruise in the Northwest in 2019.

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I've got to stop now before I regret selling La Dolce Vita. I need to sift thru our years' worth of 100s of photos and make Shutterly hard cover albums of all our great memories.

Next year we want to travel to Europe, either land tours, river cruises, or canal boat rentals. My wife has been to Europe more than once but I've never been further abroad than Mexico & Canada, nor farther from home then Hawaii and Alaska.

[tribologist]

Congratulations and welcome! To funny its going back to NV. That should mean it comes with lifetime warranty!! I never ever sell stuff to my neighbors and friends..