My brother once told me that you never really own a boat, but rather you're it's caretaker for a while. Through a strange chain of events seemingly taken out of the Celastine prophecy, it's now my turn for Aquarius' caretaking. I was traveling with a friend to West Virginia, to pick up the title for his new(used) sailboat. The current owner's husband had recently passed away, my friend was purchasing their boat, but turning up the drive, 100 miles from any decent body of water, we realized there was another....

After all wheeling and dealing is over for my friend, we take more of a look at Aquarius. Her husband found her in a boatyard North of Annapolis. She had traveled from Scotland on her own keel, and was lost to the yard for unpaid storage fees. Anything of value was stripped from her, I mean everything...even the rudder. Her husband purchased the boat, and had Aquarius shipped to their home on the other side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Since her husband's passing, she was moving out of the house, and was at a loss as to what to do with the boat. The other boat had sold to my friend easily..it was already in the water in the great sailing community of the Chesapeake Bay, but Aquarius was a harder sell....the ad in the local Harper's Ferry Community Swapper had no nibbles. There was a major highway being constructed along their property line, Aquarius' fate was being negotiated with the road crew. For a small fee they would smash her, and buried the remains with the road construction debris.

The shipper that moved Aquarius from Annapolis to the other side of Harper's Ferry no longer had the needed hydraulic trailer, and recommended Kentech Marine on the Eastern shore.

The shipper had a tough time making it up the hill, and was concerned about the trip down. The road construction supervisor arrived with a backhoe to assist if needed, I guess to prevent Aquarius from becoming the road debris she tried to become. The above photo shows the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background.

I love this photo, the highway that cuts through Harper's Ferry is behind the truck cab. This photo just does not do that day justice. You can also see the dropoff where the new highway is being constructed.

The brakes were intermittently locking up on the way down the hill. You can see the skid marks in the gravel. It doesn't look steep from this angle, but we were all pretty nervous. Aquarius was not meant to be underneath that highway afterall.