We started our boating life in 1993 when my childhood memories of boating with my Dad got the better of me and instead of buying that new car we desperately needed we bought a 1989 30-ft. Sea Ray Sundancer. We named her “In Lou Of” – first to honor my wife Lou who gave up her new kidmobile for a boat, and second because we really could not afford it. People would ask; in lieu of what? To which we would reply; Everything! We had so much fun plying the waters of Tampa Bay and beyond. The kids loved it too but soon our business and a third baby pulled us away from boating. Priorities, you know!
It took some 13 years before we felt we could return to boating. We set our sites on a 2001 40-ft Sea Ray sedan bridge. Lou and I were kids again as we pulled out of Tampa Bay turned south and brought that baby up on plane… 860 horses under us and 23 knots, O’ my God; this is what we were meant to do. We named that boat ‘Seas the Day,’ along with about a million other boats of the same name, but it was our shout to the world. A couple years later we met a couple who owned a trawler and we began to think; what would an 8 knot life be like. So, we started visiting Trawler Fest and boat shows thinking in a few years we may be ready to make that change.
That’s when Baltimore happened. We decided to go there October 2011 as much to visit the city as to take a look at boats we were not yet ready to buy at the Trawler Fest. I had my list of boats I wanted to board all made out, questions for brokers and all very orderly you know. We decided to first walk down the dock to see what was there when we came to a boat we recognized, or thought we did. You see, the couple who introduced us to the trawler life had a Hatteras 48 LRC. And here was one, or sort of.
So, that is how we got here. We walked onto that boat, took one look at each other and dashed to find the owner.
Belle Aurore is her new name, which means Beautiful Dawn – our favorite time of day. And, with 32-years together Lou and I feel that we’ve come to a new place in our lives together that could best be described as a beautiful new dawn. Belle, as we like to call her, started life in 1978 as a 48-foot Hatteras Long Range Cruiser. Her previous owner had her stretched by adding 5 dearly needed feet to the cockpit that now makes her the only 53-foot three stateroom Hatteras LRC on the planet. With an overall length of nearly 60-feet she is quite the gal.
Our goal is to renew her beauty to 1978 condition and cruise to wherever life takes us. Because, as we see things, life ain’t no dress rehearsal.
