Our new boat, which is being built in China, has just gone through preliminary sea trials to make sure the solar/hybrid engines perform exactly as promised. We spoke with Reuben shortly after the tests and he was amazed at the performance of this new technology.  He said it was so quiet you hardly thought the boat was running. The pictures above show our  boat with a temporary plywood roof to hold the solar array. The boat wasn’t as fast as they had hoped for, its top speed will be 9 knots, they hoped for 14.  With that, Warren is nervous to buy the boat and is thinking about this purchase a little more carefully.  We plan on going to the Miami Boat show next week to speak with Reuben and see other boats that he has on display.  Our boat is hull #1 and we will not be able to see it until it arrives in June.  There was a change in plans also, the boat will be delivered to the northeast instead of Florida so that means we must continue our trip up the east coast to N.Y.  We hope to be there by June and take possession of the new boat a short time later.  We will be showing the boat at the Greenport Trawler Fest on Long Island, which is nice for us to be back home for a while.  We will also show the boat at 3 other boat shows up north, Newport, Annapolis and Norfolk.  

We are in Ft Myers right now and the weather is amazing for February.  It is in the 80’s  and we are at the Legacy Harbor Marina, which is right downtown.  It is very comfortable here, they have floating docks, clean restrooms, and they even had a party hosted by the marina 2 nights ago.  The people here are boaters who stay for the winter and call Ft Myers home.  We have met some of our old boating friends again, Tony and Jean, and it has been pleasant so far.  Warren and I have figured out the local bus routes and we will rent a car to go to the boat show this friday.  Legacy Harbor Marina will be our home for the month of February when Warren’s 3 daughters will come to visit for a few days.  We hope the beautiful weather holds up for them.

We will keep you posted on the new boat as things progress, and will meet with Reuben on friday.  Looking forward to meeting the man that has all our money and future in his hands!