Malolo (ma-loh-loh):
Talk about a driving trip gone awry! We were touring down the US East Coast in the fall of 2004 when we decided to take a shortcut out of Boothbay, ME on our way to Damariscotta. As we drove along River Road, we saw a crazy old boat in a field with a "For Sale" sign hanging from her bowsprit. Not being in the market for a boat, we drove on by.
A bit further down the road we stopped and turned around to go and have a better look. After all, we love looking at crazy old boats. I pulled over and took out the camera. We had a look around, admired her lines and took some photos. I made sure to get one of the For Sale sign, with the telephone number legible. Unbeknownst to me, Donna wrote down the number. We carried on with our trip with no further talk of the boat, arriving home a few days later.
About a week after getting home, we were looking at our photos and got to talking about the boat and wondering about her story. We decided to call the number that we had both recorded, after all, what's the harm in that? Well, one thing led to another and the next thing you know we were heading back down to Maine to check her out in more detail. Needless to say, we were smitten.
We purchased Malolo in November 2004 with the intent to fix her up and do some extended cruising. She is a strong, seaworthy boat and we felt that she would prove to be a comfortable, if somewhat slow, cruiser.
Part of our purchase agreement included indoor storage for the winter in Boothbay, and some assistance with necessary repairs from the previous owner who is a boatbuilder. We spent about a week a month in Boothbay working on the boat, and had a wonderful time. We launched in the spring and sailed Malolo home in June. Since then we have cruised to Newfoundland and down to the Bahamas, in between working away at repairing the boat, upgrading her systems and generally making her more comfortable and safe.
The links on the post-it note above tell the story.