Our boat, Alice in Red, was built in 1990 by Northshore (now known as Southerly) Yachts in Itchenor, England. The model is a Vancouver 36, so it's called a Northshore Vancouver 36, to distinguish it from some other 'Vancouver' models.
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| Here is a diagram of the layout. |
Matt's family purchased the boat in 1995, renamed in Jomary (after the 3 boys, Jonathan, Matthew, and Ryan), donated it in 2008 (it was renamed the Blind Victoria), and we just bought it back this October, and renamed it Alice in Red.
There are some pretty superstitious beliefs out there, that renaming a boat is bad luck, and there should be an elaborate process of expunging every trace of the old name. Then there is the christening of the boat with a bottle of champagne. I personally submit to the salty folklore that it is bad luck to name a boat after a person that is still alive. It just so happened when thinking of going sailing like this, there was someone I thought of, someone I wished I could still chat with, my Alice. She was incredibly encouraging through my years at Kings Point, and truly shared my passiograndmother n for travel. And so it came to me in a dream, sort of like the scene from Forest Gump (which we watched countless times - you know, the part where he names his shrimp boat). "There was only one name I could think of, the most beautiful name in the whole world." Alice
Just Alice seemed kind of short so we added some syllables, in Red. Red was her favorite color and she wore it quite often. Whenever she did I noticed something special about her, like she was full of life and vigor, and that's how I like to remember her. And so that's where it comes from. Alice in Red to me, really means, Full of Life. Matt was very gracious in naming our boat after my grandmother he never even met, and for that I am very grateful.
