[Rhodes22-list] New Rhodes Boat Owner

[Nell]

Stan and I and my daughter went sailing on his boat today AFTER I put a down
payment on my very own Rhodes.
The sail was fun and it was a clear, warm day, the last of July, and
strangely there were only 4 other boats on the water.
Go figure.
I thought beautiful, warm weather, and a weekend, should bring everybody out
to play but not so.
They missed a real treat.
Stan is as much of a character to sail with as he is to talk to.
I must admit he seemed a little hesitant to take my money.
He kept saying "I want you to be sure".
All right already. I'm sure.
Now all I have to do is learn patience while he builds the boat.

At his suggestion, I am opening myself up to lots of input to the following
questions:
Which of the couple of dozen "add-ons" to the boat would you Rhodes owners
recommend?
Stan talked me into a single axel trailer because I will be trailering on
flat land over about 25 miles.
He is trying to talk me out of an auto tiller. What do you all think?

Seriously, I am planning on buying only this one boat in my lifetime and I
want to be able to sail it when I am older and much less strong than I am
now. So I wanted the package with the electric motor lift, etc.
Stan says that he can do just fine with the manual lift at his age, a spry
78.
I wanted the self-tending jib.
Stan says I don't want it. What's your opinion.

By the way, I asked him how come we don't put a small refrigerator in place
of the ice box that collects the water from the melting ice. I said the
refrigerator could be kept at cold temperature by being hooked up to the
electric dockside. Then when it's disconnected while out sailing, if we put
a bag of ice in it, it would be like our home fridge during a power failure.
The ice could keep the food inside cold. The temperature would rise like it
would do at home without current. The melting ice just needs to be placed in
the fridge so that when it melts, it could be collected for drinking water
use just like it currently would be collected in the standard ice chest. Any
thoughts from you inventive types?

I'm also thinking about a name for this boat. I suggested Black Widow
because of an inside joke with Stan.
Also Shadow's Ebb. I want something distinctive but not trite. Also, any
suggestions?

Thanks for the feedback in advance.

nellwolfe