Without exaggeration the latest boat project, for us, has been at least 11 years in the making. My husband has been studying, shopping for, and viewing fishing vessels (F/V) for at least 11 years. He has searched from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland and down the East Coast.......All while we have been creating a family, making a living, getting through Foster Care licensing, adoption, and a few moves.....Am. I. Glad. It. Is. Over????? Hell yes! The transformation of F/V Charlie III has literally felt like having a sister wife! At least she has finally started making money and is not just spending it all!
I wish that the story of her history were one of profit, harmony, and smooth sailing, but that is not the case. There is no doubt that this boat was designed to be seaworthy. Fortunately, her tragedy didn't occur on the water! This boat was a vision. A vision a father had for his son.
My husband spotted this boat on Craigslist, while we were living on Isle au Haut (a remote island 6 miles off the coast of Maine). The boat was located in Scituate, Massachusetts about six hours away. In the time between finding the listing and the time we got the boat to Isle au Haut there were around six trips to and from Scituate. This included a round trip steam, by boat. The return trip had our new vessel in tow as she was not ready to run on her own power. During that time my husband got to know the previous owner and learned much about his connection to the boat.
I have to be honest....the first time I saw the boat it was sitting on boat stands in an impound lot....I was in awe as I pulled up and saw just how big this vessel was. Then...I boarded the boat. I could have killed my husband. This poor boat had been neglected for a long time. Everything was rotten and punky. Holy Mother what the F*&* was he thinking?? That is what went through my mind. He saw something I didn't. He knew he had found a great deal. He knew there was much to be done, and true to form, he has stayed the course.
At first, the conversations with the owner could be less than friendly at times. He was quick to get heated and it made the boat all the more rotten to me. As we came to know more about the owner's relationship with the vessel it became very clear why he had such a hard time dealing with the boat.
This was his vision for his young son. He had a plan to get this boat fishing for his son, to set him off on the path to success. To cheer him on and teach him the way, something that most Captains hold in the very fiber of their being. This young son was also a father. He had started the next generation for their family..........The vision that was held for the future of the vessel, the future of father and son all came to an end. That young man was killed in a car accident. His little one was left without a father. His father was left with a hole in his heart...and there was the boat, a constant reminder of the what would never be.
The boat sat in that parking lot for about six years. Six years of reminding everyone what they had lost.
For all of the tension that this boat has brought between my husband and I, I pray that we will never know the pain that this boat symbolized for her previous family. I pray that now that our vessel is ship shape and has new life breathed into her that somehow there is healing for her other family. Once she is painted in the spring we have plans to make that trip to Scituate once again, this time under her own power. I think seeing the boat in a fresh condition may provide a release of emotions that will hopefully bring even just a tiny bit of comfort to the sadness left by that broken vision.
We have four sons, and a daughter that may just out-fish them!! So, in honor of our children, and with the intention of setting a new course, we have opted to rename our vessel. F/V Charlie III has shed her old skin and transformed into F/V Troublemakers! Trust me, the name fits!
Blessings to you!
Thanks for reading,
Island Momma