It was love at first sight in the 5 degree air! Our beautiful 1977 Bristol 29.9, hull number 28. The s/v Egress! 

s/v egressWhile at our future retirement house on Madeline Island in Lake Superior over the Thanksgiving holiday, besides family visiting, we had many of our Island friends over.  On our second to last night of our stay, one of our good friends, Captain Ric, who runs a charter business on the island, mentioned that he knew of a great sailboat for sale on the island that we might be interested in, and suggested we take a look at her. We had often thought about buying a sailboat closer to the retirement date 7 years from now. I thought about it much more than my wife and regularly perused all the sailboat listings on the web, dreaming of the day when we could make a purchase. Captain Ric spoke fondly of the Egress as he had her in his charter fleet when she was much younger. He shared with me many stories of the various adventures he had on her with the many wild and wonderful guests who sailed on her in the Apostle Islands. He told me that she would need TLC and a lot of elbow grease, but that she was a stout seaworthy vessel. I was greatly intrigued and promised to have a look in the morning. So the next morning Barb and I drove down to inspect her, and it was love at first site in the 5 degree air. Though we had no way to get up on deck nor see the cabin, I admired her fine lines and stout hull from the ground, gazed up at her rigging and imagined the sails full of wind. I knew right there and then she was the sailboat for us. Our first! Upon returning to our home I’m Colorado I contacted the owner and recieved the latest survey from him. I researched the Bristol 29.9 sailboat history and bloodlines. I found many interesting items about this sailboat which I will share in future posts. So after much thought and deliberation we decided to submit an offer. It was wonderful news just a few days prior to Christams when we heard the that our offer was accepted. Talk about a wonderful Christmas present!