A Virginia Couple Prepares for Married Life with a New Back Cove
“Selecting a name for our new Back Cove 34 was a lot harder than we thought,” says Kelly Mire and Alicia Carberry. “It took a lot of brainstorming, but finally Tilly Time just sort of popped out at the end.” Mire continues, “Ironically, Tilly is Alicia’s childhood nickname courtesy of her big sister. She didn’t like it at the time, but she does now.” Kelly and Alicia have been newly inducted into the Bluewater family and are also busy planning their Bermuda wedding for the Fall. The couple’s new boat purchase stemmed from over a year of searching for a “weekender” style boat that they could enjoy cruising and entertaining with their family and friends, but would also prove a capable performer in open water and while exploring Chesapeake Bay. “We both love the classic lines of Downeast boats, and Back Cove has pulled everything we wanted into a great package, at a reasonable price point.” Mire added.
View this article in our Summer 2014 issue of OnBoard magazine
Originally the pair was not looking to purchase a brand new boat, and had found a very clean 2013 Back Cove 34 available. Bluewater’s Mark Connors helped the couple prepare an offer, but immediately before presenting it, the boat sold. Fortunately for them, Bluewater Yacht Sales had a 2014 Back Cove 34 in stock that Mire and Carberry had seen at the Annapolis powerboat show. Connors and Bluewater put together a great deal on the brand new model. Mire describes the process, “Mark was incredibly helpful with the many questions we had about purchasing and owning a boat of this type, because it was very different from what we were used to. He brought us a level of knowledge and confidence that allowed us to feel comfortable we were making good decisions.” Having closed on the boat during the holiday season, they were able to spend New Year’s Eve on Tilly Time before wintering the boat at Bluewater’s Hampton yacht yard. Mire and Carberry reminisce, “We stayed at the dock, but it was a great way to spend our first overnight on her, watching fireworks and ringing in the new year on our new boat.”
“We had planned to explore around the lower Chesapeake surrounding Hampton during the early Spring, but the long Winter got in the way.” They enjoy visiting St. Michaels and Oxford, Maryland and plan to spend the summer months on the Magothy River, along with attending the Bluewater Summer Cruise to Tangier Island in July.
Speaking about the Back Cove 34’s layout, the couple enjoys the galley-up design which affords for an open and flexible area to entertain guests while also carving out more room below for the stateroom, head and full size shower. Naturally, Mire approves of the low operational costs of the single Cummins engine, while the propulsion package still includes a bow and stern thruster that help take the stress out of short-handed docking scenarios. Moving up from much smaller runabouts and center consoles is not without it’s learning curves, “At this point, we wanted something that we felt comfortable learning to handle and gaining experience with.” Mire explains. Ultimately they may move up to something big enough to comfortably accommodate more people for longer journeys, “but that will likely be a few years out. Of course, Mark [Connors] will be the first to know when we are ready.”
