Hello all, We had made great progress with Ameris over the past few months. Completely replaced the port ama decks, and repaired many stations under them. Replaced most of the fantail port and starboard, and replaced all stations under
deck there.
Epoxy re-enforced main aft beam. Completely, re-did the cockpit sole and combing, gutted v berth and fixed any
rot present. Pulled mizzen to
repair main beam under. Sadly this is where the journey has ended for us and Ameris. The more we uncovered the more we found that was not to my standard for a safe
family boat, within our time and
money limits. Much of which, I had calculated on, but what I didn't was the weather. It was either raining or 114 degrees most of the summer, which is very different from where we live just 2hrs away. That being said, living 2 hrs from the boat just made progress stagnate for us. It wasn't fair to the previous owner, or the boat for us to continue to string the
project on in the manner that we afforded... "corona virus didn't help much either"
Anyway, excuses aside -- Our- time frame, monetary support, and availability would not
permit us to continue the project.
So, we gave her away...
Yeah, crazy enough, I listed her for free, no strings attached, and gave her to a nice man named John from Fl. Actually, the previous poster on this thread.
He seemed to be a great fit for Ameris from the 1000's of interested parties.
John has made much progress in the last month or so, and might be on a time line to shove off from the
mooring in late December. It sounds like he is expecting a short
haul out to do a bottom job and
repair a few things, then on to
Florida.
As
for Sale price... we couldn't see selling something that was going to need soo much more
work, and so much more
money invested. We figured the only way the project had any chance to succeed was to take the loss both monetary and literally- for the chance for someone else's dream to come true.
We are on the hunt for another adventure. We have learned a lot from this one, that we hope to apply to the next one. If anyone has a boat laying around let us know. We are willing to look at anything the good lord presents us with as a possibility.
Some things we think might be important in the next dream.
If Trimarian we may will build a custom marples design. with retractable amas, and kick up
rudder.
We like the idea of a 34ft trailable
cutter rig with kick up
rudder. Berths in amas for in port and sleeping for 4 in main
cabin with two pilot berths... Possible aft cockpit with scoops for easier boarding. Also, more of a
single plane from cockpit to living area, with ample
storage under
flooring. 100%
Plywood epoxy build with cnc plans to expedite the build process.
dyneema rigging and
deck stepped spar with tabernacle. I figure this time frame will be much to long for my liking, and possibly the my
budget.
So Plan B,
Find an old solid
classic plastic 35'-52' boat that is sailable as is.(this greatly depends on how many kiddos are with us) Something that we can lick our wounds and get out there on. Then maybe build our for ever boat later on.. Until then we are now starting to
rebuild our 20k ish loss from our cruising kitty and looking forward to our next adventure in this life.
All in- this adventure cost us just less than 14 days at Disney World, airfare, hotels,
food and all. The
kids learned new skills, have 30+ days of coast life, learn about budgets, build, edit, and post videos. Not all Dreams can be realized, but even un-realized dreams can be full of adventure. We learned a lot, over this summer- Grew closer, laughed, cried, enjoyed success, and realized defeat- all as a family. Possibly the most important was the last... Our
children learned that it is okay to fail, that in failure there is countless lessons to be learned. Always, have a back up plan, and always wear
safety glasses....
:-)
We would love to take a minute to thank everyone that has been supportive along the way. It has been a fun journey, and we hope that John can keep y'all posted on Ameris's progress along the way. Even though the adventure didn't work out for us, our hope is that we set John and Ameris up for undoubted success to get out and realize his Dream.
Best regards- hopefully you see the
Caribbean soon Ameris & John
Cheers,
James Huson & the Dream Catcher Ameris Crew.
P.s. Dream Catcher will continue on... I was sick the entire month of August and still trying to get life back to some sort of normality. So- those that enjoy our adventures,,, more will be coming,,, soon.