Garry and Carol Domnisse
Yellow Rose 37VT47
LNVT owners 2000-2002
Garry, who's from Oregon, first saw an LNVT on Lake Union, WA, in the 1980's. Impressed, but not knowing what kind of boat it was, he had to find out when he next saw one (Gray Ghost #56) 20 years later in Annapolis, MD. The Domnisse's are experienced live-aboards and blue water cruisers who sailed their Valiant 40, S/V Yellow Rose, to Annapolis, from Long Beach, CA, via the Panama Canal. Before meeting Garry at a Single Sailors function, Carol sailed her own Hans Christian 36.
The fall of 2000 found them and S/V Yellow Rose southbound on the ICW with plans to winter in the Bahamas. They made it as far as Fort Pierce, FL before everything changed. By shear happenstance a friend (and boat broker) was there showing a boat and asked if he could show S/V Yellow Rose too. Several days later, with a contract in hand, Garry and Carol started looking for an LNVT. Just north, in Hilton Head, Sea Hobby was for sale. It was love at first sight. Looking no farther, they bought and renamed her M/V Yellow Rose in February 2000. Rather than continue to the Bahamas they decided to sea trial their new tug by going back up the ICW and exploring the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake. Departing the dock in a new boat for the first time is always stressful. Carol can attest to this as she saw the tug's rapidly moving stern almost take out the dock as they pulled away. In Charleston they ran into and thanked Gray Ghost for re-sparking their interest in LNVTs.
Near Camp Lejeune the engine just quit. It was a job to get the anchor down and set before Yellow Rose went ashore. The problem was traced to some loose wires in the Cummins electrical box. Farther up the ICW a broken engine mount was fixed and some diesel was found in the bilge. The rest of the trip to Annapolis was a true joy.
Being a retired Coast Guard Lt. Commander, Garry was able to haul at the Naval Academy's support facility. There they installed a Pur 40 water maker, shelves in the galley's wet locker, Frigiboat refrigeration, recaulked the decks, two 23' antennas for VHF and HF, a Furuno GPS, and dual Racor filters. A green stripe was also painted on the hull just below the hand rail. In Annapolis they found a car parts store with window channel that worked on an LNVT. With this they repaired the pilot house's rear windows.
In October 2000 they headed down the ICW and were in Coco Beach by Christmas. Staging out of Lake Worth they crossed the Gulf Stream, in 8 hours, to the West End, Bahamas, on 14 January, 2001. They really enjoyed the Bahamas especially Hope Town where M/V Yellow Rose spent much of the time on a mooring. The return crossing on 3 March, 2001, was uneventful too. The trip up the ICW was a fast one as they made Dymer Creek in the Chesapeake by 25 March, 2001. While there Garry repaired, with a sealant, a leak in the right forward fuel tank. This required the tank to be completely empty, dry and clean before the sealant could be applied to the tank's inside surfaces. As a preventative measure this procedure was repeated on the remaining three tanks.
The original sale of S/V Yellow Rose had fallen through and she hadn't sold in the intervening 18 months. Owning, and paying for two boats was too much, especially with 9/11 and the resulting market downturn. One boat had to go and so both S/V and M/V Yellow Rose were put on the market in Annapolis. M/V Yellow Rose sold in 3 months and S/V Yellow Rose sold thereafter.
Carol is a sometime RN and full time grandmother. Garry teaches navigation and is a Sony merchandiser. Their adventures cruising aboard S/V Yellow Rose can be found in their book Our Island in the Sun.