Buster (the cat)

We received this message from Buster's previous owner of how Buster got her name....

Hi and thanks for the blog address, thought it looked great and
brought a tinge of a tear to both of us.
You had asked how Buster got named so here goes. On December 7th 2002, a day that will not
only live in infamy but also in our fondest memories. I must mention that
we have always been cat people but when our last cat "KATO" went to cat
heaven after 17 years we decided that we would try life without a feline
member of our family. Anyway our close friend and neighbor was walking her
dog in a rather cool drizzle when she found 2 very small kittens lost on our
street and tried to find their owners but at 9:30 PM really did not have
much hope. Knowing that we were soft hearted toward animals and considering
the season she decided quickly she could get us to take them in, at least
for the night. As I answered the door in rushed what looked like a fur ball
with feet and jumped into George's lap as though to say this is my new home.
After some discussion he, name unknown, explained in cat talk he was going
nowhere else. Later that night he said I could find another home for his
sister but his name was Buster and he was staying. SO BE IT. Fast forward
3 years to November 2005 and we went to look at a Nordic 37 hull number 76
named AUNT BESS in north Florida, for a friend who lived in the Seattle
area. We examined the boat very carefully and gave him a glowing report, ie.
low time, well equipped and almost unused as sadly the man who bought Aunt
Bess had taken ill and could no longer go on a boat. My friend, after some
soul searching, decided he would not be able to sell his 43 foot sailboat
quickly enough so he turned it down. I thought that all was said and done
until my dear wife explained to me in no uncertain terms that if I did not
buy Aunt Bess she would never look at another boat with me. What could I
do. After the purchase I was certain that the name BUSTER was the perfect
name for a perfect cat and now a perfect boat and that both were a surprise
to us. I hope this explains the name . Best regards and we will plan on a
visit in the fall. K&G

A little background and some new pics.

Our trip to find our "dream boat" began last month. We'd always loved looking at the great little Nordic Tugs when we were out cruising around the San Juans. We decided it was time to at least look at what was on the market. Next thing I knew, we were headed back to Washington DC to look at 4 boats for sale.

Our trip began in Annapolis, MD and we quickly ruled out two of the four potentials. And there was something about that little tug down in Virginia that just kept calling us..... We even began calling her by name.... Buster....

When we saw her for the first time, our intuition was correct. She was the boat for us. As we were writing an offer to purchase her, we received a phone call that our Meridian had an offer on it! Wow, was it all meant to be?

And to give just a bit more background, a few of these photos were kindly handed down from Buster's previous owners.... Thank you Ken & George!

Buster.... the beginning

We purchased Buster on June 1, 2011.... what a dream come true! She is back in Chesapeake, VA so we figured that we would do some sightseeing before we put her on a truck to come home to Washington. So, our travels on the Chesapeake Bay will begin with our flight back on June 27. We are planning several days there at Atlantic Yacht Basin (on the inter-coastal waterway) just to familiarize ourselves with all of the systems and get her properly equipped and stocked. From there the adventure begins. Hopefully we will be watching fireworks this year in Yorktown but we have no real firm plans for our 3 week trip.