Celebrity!

The boat buying process is underway. We have agreed on a price and are waiting for the settlement date. Ordinarily, since the total expenditure is not, comparatively speaking, a large sum we would treat the transaction like an automobile purchase but with the boat in Florida, the owners in Oregon, and us in Virginia, the only way we can finalize the deal without brokers is to pay for a settlement service. Hopefully, within a few days we should have all of the details worked out.

This past weekend, Eric and I drove down to Lottsburg, Virginia to look at Olverson's Marina. Tagging themselves as the friendliest marina on the bay, I was happy to see in addition to good personalities, they have clean showers, laundry facilities, and Internet service. As this dream of Eric's materializes, the one overwhelming truth is that low-budget boating is going to be a highly romanticized version of outdoor camping.

So, while we were sitting in rocking chairs on the dock talking to the owner about lumber and crime rates and a variety of topics not related to boating, we were introduced to Jeffrey Siegel, the founder of Active Captain, a boating community wiki that lately has become a big deal with iPhone apps, guidebooks, and a wealth of online information. I considered asking the man for a photo op but instead raved about his logo.

I like the way the Internet symbol becomes blue waves, and how it ties into the word Captain. To illustrate just how far this site has come, see here for an earlier version of what the logo looked like. A big improvement, wouldn't you say?