"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in
its net of wonder forever."—Jacques Cousteau

Mar. 27 - New Owners

It's official…we now own a Monk 36. We only had to sign our names to 30 some documents, have six of them notarized and dish out a little money. LOL There were so many details to take care of. Stan will make one last trip to Oklahoma, to get the boat ready to be transported. We had to find a date that was good with the former owner, the transporter and Stan. Unfortunately that will be April 6, so Stan will have to drive up on Easter Sunday. Stan will spend Monday with Tim learning a few more things about the boat and getting things secure for the boat to be transported. On Tuesday she will be loaded on a truck and make her way home to the Texas Coast.

Here are the particulars for our Monk 36’ Trawler Yacht:

Year: 1983
LOA: 39.10’
Length on deck: 36.0’
LWL: 33.0’
BOA: 13.0’
Draught: 4.0’
Engines: 1 American Diesel 120 HP diesel engine
Speed: 8.5 knots (Maximum), 7.5 knots (Cruise)
Range: over 600 NM
Northern Lights 5kW Generator
Tanks - Fuel: 320gals Water: 120gals Waste: 35gals
Accommodations: Master Stateroom and V-berth
Designer: Ed Monk
Builder: North Sea Yachts

Mar. 16 - The Survey and Sea Trail

We made an offer that was accepted on the Sweet Melissa, so we drove back to Oklahoma March 16 to have the survey and sea trail done. It was a very cold grey day…not a lot of fun being on the water, but we know the heater works well.

The survey found a few issues that will need to be addressed, so we will make a counter offer and see what happens. We don’t mind fixing these things, but we will need a better price for the boat…a lot of details have to be taken care of. So we may still be looking for that perfect boat.

A look at the bottom (Spring hasn't arrived in Oklahoma yet!)

Mar. 7 - The Boat

Sweet Melissa located on Grand Lake in Ketchum, Oklahoma. We drove 630 miles, spent hours finding out every detail of the boat, taking it out on the lake and drove 630 miles back in 42 hours. Wow! We think this may be the one, so this is only the first trip to Oklahoma. We will have to make a least two more trips before we can get her home. One trip will be for the survey and sea trail and the other will be to get it ready to be loaded on a trailer and driven to Texas.

Here are a few pictures of the way she looks at the moment. We will make a few changes and rename her if all the details can be worked out.
The V-Birth
Front Head
The Galley 
The Salon
The Stateroom
Stateroom Head
The boat's floor plan

The Hunt for the Perfect Boat

"Walkabout" A Monk 36' probably the perfect boat, but it was the first one we looked at. We made an offer, they made a counter offer….couldn’t agree on a price. *Sigh* Well it just wasn’t meant to be.  We looked at this boat January 22; we also looked at two others boats that day that weren't worth mentioning.  We took a second look on February 13.
“Gipsea" An Island Gypsy 30' would be a good boat for weekends or maybe a week. Too small to live on for long....very small kitchen and no room for visitors. We drove to Rockport and looked at this boat on February 5.
"Royal Salute" A Defever 40'...this is a beautiful boat inside and out, but the engine is too big. Fuel consumption too high. So we keep looking.  Just looked at this one online.
"Margaret Doane" A Thompson Trawler 44'…this boat is listed at a great price, but needs too much work. It could be a wonderful boat, but we just don’t want to spend a year fixing it up. The engines are questionable and the inside would need to be gutted, and every surface refinished. The hunt continues.  This boat was located in Matagorda; we looked at her on February 26.
"Sweet Melissa" A Monk 36' located on Grand Lake in Oklahoma.  This could be the one, but it would definitely need a new name.  We took our first look at her on March 6.