About the Blog:
This blog started as mvLuckyStars.com when we had that wonderful vessel, a Nordhavn 43. In March of 2021 we sold Lucky Stars to a Hall of Fame rock musician and miss her a lot. She was an excellent vessel for cruising the Pacific coast. Her sister ships have logged many ocean crossings. All in a few month’s time Katy retired as CEO of her company, we sold Lucky Stars, we sold the house in Corona del Mar, CA, and moved back to Virginia and Florida. So we needed a new boat, to match a new dream.
Before Lucky Stars, we owned a Sabre 40. Her home base was in Fernandina Beach, FL at Tiger Point Marina. She was fun to cruise and easy to operate. Her “Lobster-style” design was very attractive. She did very well offshore in light to moderate conditions. But NO NO NO POD DRIVES please this time! Those pods were a maintenance headache, poorly manufactured by Mercury, the sensors and controls suffered endless corrosion. In fact, that power train of Cummins, Zeus pods, and Mercathode corrosion protection was constantly troubled by corrosion. I confess the pods were a big worry when operating in the ICW. I saw one that had been knocked off after running aground, it was in a service yard in Chesapeake, VA at the northern start of the ICW. (ouch). I think the pod system per se would probably do a great job in Southern California where there is not much to strike except perhaps a random log or unfortunate marine mammal 🙁
The Hinckley Talaria line seems to fit our mission requirements perfectly. Because we have lots of shoaling in our North Florida South Georgia area and the ICW, the idea of Hamilton jet drives is one great advantage of the Talaria 43. Wow, less than 2’6″ draft. The jet drive system is less exposed to shoaling and may be safer for the marine mammals, especially manatee. Because we will be cruising from a base in Fernandina Beach, FL for the winter season and Deltaville, VA in the Chesapeake Bay for the summer, we wanted her speed. The Hamilton jets coupled with Caterpillar C8.7 engines will produce the speed for sure. Although we spent much time cruising from the fly bridge of Lucky Stars, we needed less sun exposure. So no fly bridge for the Hinckley.
Gaysie, our new Talaria 43 will be commissioned in April of 2022. She is named after Katy’s mother. Her family called her Gaysie. I always spelled it Gayzie pronouncing the Z. Everyone else pronounced the Z too, but all spelled it with an S. She was a sophisticated, fun and happy … just like I think of the Hinckley Picnic boats.
Details of the build will be the subject of many future posts we are sure.