Date: April 24, 2021
Weather: Cloudy and cool
Waters: Choppy at first, then fairly flat
On board: C, A, J2, R and Pudding
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| Yes, this photo says it all. Call that number if you are interested. |
The family has taken the decision to let go of Little Wanderer 2 as soon as a buyer can be found for it. We have enlisted the help of SGBoating to do that, and there have already been some viewings of this four-and-a-half year old Searay Sundancer 260 (bought late 2016). The body is in very good condition, and it has low mileage; in the time we have had it, some parts (including the battery) have been replaced, and she purrs. (Looks like Searay has lately discontinued the Sundancer 260, but the Sundancer 265 is similar. See the specs on Searay's official website here.)
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| She has a beautiful profile. |
There are a combination of reasons we are doing this, chief among which is that we simply aren't going out enough in it to justify the cost of maintaining it. Work gets in the way, and the only day of the week we can conceivably go on an outing is Saturday. Throw in the vagaries of each family member's schedule, and the wind, tides and overall weather not being in our favour, and you end up with only a precious few windows in a year to make that outing. It's like asking the planets to be aligned.
In our four-and-something years with this boat, we have logged in only 37 trips, including today's - under 10 trips a year. Not good... though the memories made on her have been great.
In an ideal universe, we would have liked to keep her into our retirement years, but if we don't have the time to go out often enough before retirement, then affording the upkeep after retirement would be the issue. Work - damned if you do it, and damned if you don't.
We are sad to let this boat and the lifestyle go. It's been a pleasure even if we don't go very far from the marina. The quiet and being at sea, away from the week's cares, if only for three or four hours.
So, on April 24, we headed out for what could be the last outing on her on a cool, cloudy Saturday. The water was a little choppy as we headed for the Lim Chu Kang fish farms north of Tuas, but was a lot flatter when we tried to anchor.
I say "tried" because the windlass chose not to work, despite several tries. We were to find out later that the relay for the system had gone kaput. Anyway, if we couldn't drop anchor, staying put in our chosen spot wouldn't have been possible. We took a short drive north of the fish farms for a look-see, and then headed back to the marina, disappointed at the truncated outing. We did, however, spend about 15 minutes floating (but still under power) just outside Raffles Marina.
We then made tracks for the flat waters of the marina itself, berthed there and stayed on the boat, drinking our beers and listening to music.
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| Captain C berthed her effortlessly, and C and J2 lashed her to the cleats on the dock. |
We are hoping that there might be another outing or two in her before she goes to her next owner.
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| Postcript: This pic was sent to us showing us the bit of the windlass relay that went wonky on Saturday. |
