The Boat Guy Tries on Some Ruby Slippers
Chip Hanauer, The Boat Guy, tells us about one of his favorite boats.
October 4, 2014
Here at the Boat Guy, we have this saying, “It ain't the boat, it’s the float.” Well, the Rard family had an epic float on board their beloved Ruby Slippers. It's the kind of “float” I think we all dream about.
Ruby Slippers is a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49, designed by Phillipe Briand. She carries 120 gallons each of water and diesel, with a displacement of 27,888 pounds. She's a rugged and capable boat.
Ruby Slippers is a capable family cruiser.
And Jim Rard is perhaps the most capable person I know, both on the water and off. He's the owner of Marine Marine ServiCenter, which has locations in Seattle and Anacortes WA. When Jim decided to learn how to play slide guitar, Jim built the guitar first!
Jim and his wife, Jeanna, took their twin girls, Molly and Jessie, out of school for a couple of years and headed out of the Straights of Juan de Fuca, where they turned left and spent two years traveling to exotic ports of call in the South Pacific. Since returning from that voyage, Ruby Slippers is still taking the Rard family wherever their hearts and minds tell them to go.
The Boat Guy shares a family lunch in the cockpit.
Jim runs an annual cruise called Sail Alaska, where he takes other boaters to little “holes” that only a few experienced Alaskan sailors know how to get in and out of. It's nice to have one of the most capable people on the planet along to personally assist those who may be making such a voyage for the first time. You can learn more about the trips on the Marine ServiCenter website, under Sail Alaska.
I would travel anywhere with the Rard family. They’re all experienced, knowledgeable, and a ton of fun. Any time I get to spend on Ruby is time that I greatly value!
For more about this great family and boat, watch Winter Boating:
