Having decided that a 10 hour trip to Yankee Marina & Boatyard in Yarmouth, Maine was in order I contacted my broker, Grant Huber of Atlantic Coast Yacht Sales in Annapolis, MD as well as the seller's broker, East Coast Yacht Sales in Yarmouth, ME to make arrangements for me to inspect "Early Light". By the way, both brokers are Sabre dealers. I needed to find out if "Early Light" was the yacht I was seeking.

After several phone calls to both brokers a trip to Maine was scheduled for Wednesday February 7, 2001. At this time I also made arrangements with Tim Lackey of Gulf of Maine Marine Surveyors to be on call during my visit should my initial inspection of "Early Light" indicate that a survey was in order.

I departed Maryland bright and early Wednesday February 7, 2001 right after the biggest blizzard of the season hit Maine and arrived in Yarmouth late in the afternoon . Just getting from the parking lot to the boat in the boatyard was a real trek.

There was a 10 foot snowbank between me and the boat, so I bundled up in a ski parka, hat, gloves and insulated boots, and made my way over the bank and through the 4 foot drifts. By now, daylight was running short, so I merely trudged around the boat to take a quick look at the topsides. I then made arrangements with the seller's broker to inspect her on Thursday morning . Next I headed out for a meal and some sleep at the home of some gracious friends in Brunswick, ME about 15 min away.

Thursday I awoke to a crisp New England morning and set out for the boatyard to inspect Early Light. After spending approximately 4 hours aboard, I decided it was time to call the surveyor (whom I had standing by) and make arrangements for him to meet my friend David and I at the boatyard on Friday morning. It was far from being ideal conditions to survey a boat, however I had only limited time on this trip, so waiting for better weather was not really an option.

The hull survey went quite well with only a few minor items that needed attention. This is not to say that I will lack for things to do, as there is quite a bit of general cleaning and sprucing up to be done as well as a few upgrades. We were unable to inspect the mast and standing rigging during the survey, as the outdoor mast racks had been shrink-wrapped for the winter. I made an offer on Early Light and added two escrow clauses to the contract holding back funds for the mast and rigging pending inspection by my surveyor as well as for the engine pending sea trials and an engine survey after spring launch. The sail inventory was fairly complete and I was pleasantly surprised at the condition of all of the sails.