Hi Johnn,

Sure, I could have shaken down and cruised this boat, but with the two of us having two full time jobs, there just wasn't much time to do it. Besides, there is a difference. If I took a shake down cruise and broke down while I was working, I'd miss some work and put a burden on the rest of my coworkers. Now that I'm retired, I can spend all the time in the world getting fixed at marinas all over the place.

Of course, this sinking bit is a big one. The problem is that I added a lot of weight to the bow with an extra 100' of chain and an 80 pound Manson anchor hanging off the bowsprit. I think that's what pushed the thru hulls underwater, and once the boat was being used and the stuffing boxes started to leak, the huge bilges filled up with water and kicked on the bilge pump for the first time in weeks, causing the siphoning and the flooding. But I dealt with it at Liberty Landing Marina just the same as I would have at my home marina, so there's no difference really.

So to summarize, the definition of cruising is fixing your boat in exotic locations. The definition of a shake down cruise is fixing your boat in the same place you live.