The soul of Xanadu

Our boat is a Grand Banks 42 built of mahogany (hull) and teak (interior woodwork and trim) in 1971 in Hong Kong. Roxie and I, her fifth owners, have been taking care of her since late in the last century. Powered by a single John Deere engine (225 hp) she cruises most economically at about 8 knots. Inside she has all the comforts of home with a master stateroom and head aft and a guest stateroom and head forward. The main saloon, where we spend most of our time has the helm station, galley, large table, and settee. We have most of the appliances and conveniences one would find in a house or apartment such as stove with oven, microwave oven, hot and cold pressurized water (240 gallons), furnace, and 12 volt DC and 120 volt AC electricity. The dishwasher is not automatic, but even if a little dated, he is reliable. The fuel (diesel) tank capacity of 640 gallons is enough to take us about 1500 nautical miles before we start looking for a fuel dock. If the weather is nice, there is an upper helm station up on the flying bridge.

As a vessel built piece by piece of wood by the hands of sentient beings, Xanadu has a warmth and comfortable ease of movement not found on some more modern vessels. That is not to say that she is the fastest or easiest to maintain, or the best design for some purposes, but when I get close to her and enter the field of her aura I sense somewhere deep within that beautiful wood and fascinating machinery the existence of her soul.