Great Loop & Cruising Adventure Blog

After one night at Shilshole Bay Marina we left dock and headed for the Hiram M. Chttenden Locks. We locked through in the small lock with many spectators lined up above us. Had a nice chat with one of the friendly Lockmasters while going up in the lock.

We are on our way to YachtMasters today to have all of the electronics installed on the boat. Until we have this final installation completed we are not quite ready to roll. They should be done this weekend and we will be able to move the rest of our belongings, from the truck, onto our new home.

First time out for a spin on the boat, a trip to the gas dock and a little docking practice.

We headed up to Anacortes today to spend our first night on our new Kismet. What a treat. We spent a lot of time appreciating the well thought out design and quality of workmanship of the Fathom 40. Tracy Prescott from Fathom met us at the boat, just before lunch, to go over everything that we needed to know.

We immediately felt at home and are very excited about the future adventures that this boat will take us on.

Our Kismet finally feels the fresh northwest air, goes for a truck ride, touches water, gets its top put on and its engine started - all on a rare, for the Pacific Northwest, sunny and warm, February day.

We arrived at the Fathom plant at 8a.m. just in time to watch our boat being loaded onto the trailer, which is used to haul boats to the launch site. As the boat peeked out of its womb for the very first time the truck stopped so that all the Fathom craftspeople could pose for a photo op next to our boat. These are the talented people who made it all come together in just three-and-a-half months.

After a short truck ride to the launch site a large travel lift is positioned over the boat to lift it off of the trailer. It’s then moved into position over the well before being lowered into the water for the first time. Then the fly bridge is lowered into place by a boom. Shortly after the technicians installed the safety rails, ran the engine and generator for the first time, tested both thrusters, and engaged the transmission into forward and reverse and more. It was a fun day with Ric grabbing burgers from town as we all shared lunch on the fly bridge with the sun keeping us warm.

The pieces have all come together into a beautiful boat and we could not be more pleased. 

Well, we got the word on Thursday that Ric, at Fathom, has scheduled the truck to come pick up our boat at the plant, early Monday morning, to take it to LaConnor where it will hit the water shortly after. We won’t move onto the boat until, probably Wednesday after sea trials are over.

So, needless to say we are very excited. Jim can hardly stand it these last few days and I am finding it hard to get to sleep at night with all the anticipation. Our room at the B&B is full of our purchases from our many shopping expeditions so there is not much room to move around. We have been shopping for small appliances and bed covers, sheets etc. When we first got here Jim spent a lot of time researching and ordering electronics and other boat related items. We wanted all this shopping to be almost done before we moved onto the boat so that we could concentrate on doing as much boating here as possible before we ship it back to the Great Lakes in April.

I guess what I want to tell everyone watching our blog, and maybe thinking of buying a new boat, is that this is definitely the way to go. Order your boat, then go watch it be built. Stay at a B&B, (we highly recommend this one in Seattle-Capitol Hill Guest House. Make some new friends. Explore an unknown city. Become familiar with the local foods and culture. We are from a small town in northern Michigan and we liked the contrast of the big city life in Seattle. I know that neither Jim nor I will ever forget our winter in Seattle and our time at the B&B; this is an adventure in itself.

Remarkable! This is what we think when we see the professional dedication that the craftsmen apply to the quality workmanship as they build our Kismet. We’ve included photos of some of the crew who are finishing the installation of the port windows, cabinetry, carpeting and detail on the teak trim work.

Since our last visit to Fathom they have installed the flat screen TV and cabinetry, starboard salon cabinets, refrigerator freezer, bottom paint, five blade prop and they finished the swim platform. It appears like there is a lot to finish however it all comes together rather quickly in the last week. 

As long as there are no delays from any suppliers our new Kismet should launch about Wednesday, February 13, 2008.

It’s hard to believe how quickly three months will fly by. That’s how long it has been since our new “Kismet” was started and today we were told that if all goes as planned she’ll splash on February 11th – two days ahead of schedule. We continue to be amazed at how many changes occure from one visit to the next. This weeks most noticeable changes were the installation of the rear salon door and window interior teak trim and cabinets, the beautiful granite countertop, in the galley, as well as the start of the rub rail and swim platform installation.


Top-right:  Galley countertop installation
Top-left/bottom-left & right: the start of the rub rail and swim platform installation.