From Laxmi to Tara

This is a 3-D rendering of the boat delivered to be built

    We enjoy sailing. Many years ago we bought  a 40’ freedom sloop that we named Laxmi. Laxmi is a Hindu goddess of wealth and sea. Our inside joke was that the boat is named Laxmi because owning it will mean pouring wealth into ocean. We bought a used boat so the damage to our bank account was not that great and we enjoyed sailing on that boat for nearly 12 years. Because we were both working, our sailing time was generally confined to roughly 3 to 4 weeks of sailing in a year. We would get on the boat and spend that time visiting several harbors, sleep on the boat and most days cooked dinner and lunch on the boat. Our homeport was Annapolis, but we liked sailing in Maine so once we took Laxmi up there, we kept the boat in Camden, Maine. During that time, so many isolated wonderful harbors thereabouts. Twice we even dared to brave the bay of Fundy and even sailed close to Canada going as far as Roque Island. Here is a picture of our lovely boat.

After about 12 years of sailing we decided to move on to a new boat. Our thoughts at the time were that lets part with the Laxmi and do some bareboat rentals in exotic locations around the world for a week or two every year. We shall buy a new sailboat or get one constructed to our taste after a few years. That idea was excellent but our timing turned out to be wrong. The first two years we spent sailing in Croatia and Greece but then the COVID pandemic meant, we were confined to land. During that confinement period, we could have been staying full time on the boat!  That missed opportunity is perhaps what ultimately led us to buy a boat as soon as the pandemic subsided.

The path from Laxmi to Tara was not straightforward.  After the COVID scare subsided, we started to think about buying a new boat. There was a bit of urgency even desperation, as I was now fully immersed in non-profit work. That meant that I had lots of time on my hand to pursue my dream of spending more time near or on the water.  My desire was still running in the direction of buying a sail boat. Perhaps buy a bigger sailboat so that my spouse will feel comfortable spending more time on the boat. She had always complained about the head and small uncomfortable shower room of LAXMI.

My spouse had different ideas. She wanted to explore buying a motorboat. Her logic was that we will prefer motorboats over sailboats as we get older. I was not convinced. So, we decided to rent a motorboat for a week and see how each of us feel about that. We rented Grand Banks 42 from Anacortes and spent one week cruising in Pacific Northwest. That sealed the deal. Both of loved the fact that most of the living space (other than the bedrooms) were above water and sheltered from weather. We could be motoring in any weather and not be dependent on wind direction or wind speed.

Most important factor for me was that that’s when my spouse said, she can live on a boat like that full-time and she would retire if we buy the boat and get into liveaborad and cruising lifestyle. To me that was the deal clincher.

So, we started looking at buying a used or a new motorboat. We bought this boat after deliberating and visiting multiple boat shows over the period of 6 months. The search is over. We bought a 60’ full-displacement (that means our cruising speed will be 8-9 knots!) trawler. I continue to harbor a secret desire to have a sailboat as a second boat that we use few months a year. I don’t think that will happen anytime soon.

Here is the picture of our new boat. The boat is named Tara, after the name of a Hindu and Tibetian Goddess. According to the Buddhist scriptures, Goddess Tara is a compassionate, succoring deity who helps men “cross to the other shore.” She is the protectress of navigation and earthly travel, as well as of spiritual travel along the path to enlightenment.

This is taken when boat arrived at Port Everglade and made its maiden voyage to the yard for commissioing.