After moving aboard and officially taking delivery, you know stacks of paperwork and official document type stuff, it was time to Christen Steppin’ Our properly!

If you’ve been around boats, you know that boaters can be a superstitious bunch and we are no different! Boat christening ceremonies have been carried out for millennia. Sailors and their families would gather to ask the gods to protect the new vessel and provide safe passage. Ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian cultures would ask their gods for protection from the perilous seas. Well, we weren’t going to stand in the way of tradition so we set out to properly Christen Steppin’ Out and ensure that safe passage was requested from Poseidon before we left on our first voyage!

There was a lot of research that went in to this and I can tell you that there is no single, correct way to do it! The internet was filled with various ways to conduct a proper Christening. Some were very formal and other were quite casual so we took from several iterations and came up with one that we felt fit the occasion. So sit back and enjoy the Christening of Steppin’ Out! The Crew!

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Sorry for the delay in getting this posted. It’s been a busy few months and I’m hoping to get caught up shortly so thanks so much for your patience! You can always follow us on Instagram for the most current, albeit snippets, of the goings on with the Crew of Steppin’ Out!

We’ve waited nearly a two years for this day and it seemed like at times it would never get here! Kinda like when you were growing up and literally counted down the days till Christmas or that last day of school before summer break! Well, all of the waiting was over, the papers were signed and it was finally time to move aboard!

You’ll see lots of bodies moving thru the lens cause the yard was still busy commissioning Steppin’ Out for us so that we could have her in time for Christmas! A very special thanks goes out to all of those who helped with the commissioning and in moving us aboard! A huge THANK YOU goes out to Joe, Rod, Doug, Stephen, Mark, Lee, Beto, Victor, Jay, and so many others that I’m forgetting to mention that helped finish up the commissioning to get her ready for this day!

The Team at Marlow is truly like family to us! We could tell from the first day that we sat down to begin the drawings & layouts, it was very clear that they wanted to build us an amazing yacht that would safely take us around the World! We think they did just that and then some!

Finally, since it took most of a full day to move aboard, we did a time lapse that we hope you enjoy!

Cheers from The Crew…

Follow us on Instagram at: @mv_steppinout, @cruisingwithoutacalendar

We were able to be aboard one day for the manufacturer’s sea trials. This is where the engine manufacturer and Marlow test run the boat at various RPM’s and speeds to record performance specs. Depending on the outcome, they may make changes to the props, engines or both.

On this day, I had the camera rolling out back as they brought Steppin’ Out from idle to wide open throttle (WOT) in 45 seconds. Turn up your sound and listen to the beauty of 8 turbo’s spool up to produce 2400 hp and send her cruising through Tampa Bay at just under 26 knots (29.9 mph)! That was impressive for a boat weighing right at 140,000 lbs!

What they learned from the sea trial was that the props and engines were perfectly tuned and balanced so no changes were needed! Compared to our last boat (also a Marlow that we bought used) this one rides soooo smooth! No vibrations and so little noise at the helm (71 db) you have to check the gauges to make sure the engines are running!

A few weeks after we first went aboard, we had a chance to see her out of the water for the first time and WOW, she’s HUGE!!! For scale, I had Leslie stand next to the stabilizer fins to get a picture. If it wasn’t for her bright pink top, we’d probably not even see her next to the boat! It was pretty amazing to walk around the hull and see the strut keels, props, rudders, stabilizers up close for the first time. You get a real sense for the size of the equipment while feeling pretty small in the process.

A few weeks later, Southern Boating came over for a photo shoot. Little did we know, she was going to be on the cover of the February 22′ magazine for the Miami Boat show!! The Marlow team had Steppin’ Out standing tall and looking great for the photo shoot. The weather cooperated and the photographer, Tom Serio, got some great pictures that he shared with us. Enjoy!

After the offload, the Marlow team spent the next 3 days bringing the three new Marlows around to their Snead Island yard to begin commissioning. These first few pictures above are when they docked in Marathon and Boca Grande Marina on the way around from the port.

Leslie and I gave them a day to get Steppin’ Out cleaned up from her long journey and “decluttered” on the inside before finally making our way to the yard to step aboard for the very first time. I have to say, the anticipation was unlike anything I’ve felt before! We couldn’t sleep the night before. Eating was an afterthought and our stomachs were twisted in knots with excitement! I guess the best way I could describe it was like rolling up every Christmas morning you had as a child into one single moment and it was finally here! After working so hard, for so many years, and watching our “dream boat” come to life over the last 22 months thru just pictures; we were finally going to get a chance to walk aboard for the very first time!

I’ll be honest, I couldn’t take pictures on that first walk-thru. I just wanted to be in the moment when we first walked aboard to take in the sights, smells and texture’s that we were seeing for the very first time! I knew we couldn’t duplicate that moment and I didn’t want the distraction of a camera. Fortunately, or broker – Rod, had his phone and captured a few pics of the day! I’m pretty certain there were a few tears as we first walked aboard and into the salon. The emotions were off the charts as we saw Steppin’ Out with our eyes for the very first time!

We spent hours that day walking through every square inch of Steppin’ Out! First the salon, then the galley before heading below to the staterooms. Next up was the command bridge before saving my favorite spot on the boat for last … the engine room!! They had to bring us lunch cause we didn’t want to leave! We opened every cabinet & door that we could find. Sat down on every cushion, touched every countertop and turned on every faucet! We were absolutely struck with the beauty of the woodwork throughout the boat. It was just magnificent; the grains, colors & joinery were amazing and we felt like we were inside a 3D piece of art. The amount of skill it takes to craft the teak like they did was incredible to us and made us so glad we chose Marlow to build this dream for us!

Now that we had a chance to get aboard for the first time, the commissioning work begins in earnest. This is the process of completing all of the final touches that weren’t done at the factory. All of our electronics had to be brought on-line and calibrated. Each of the appliances had to be turned on and checked out one by one. This process can take 60-90 days depending on how much is left to do and any issues that come up that need to be addressed. Stay tuned as we take you through the process. Welcome Aboard!

The cargo ship BBC Newcastle spent 52 days crossing the Pacific, transiting the Panama Canal, made 6 ports of calls along the way and covered just over 12,000 nautical miles! We tracked her progress every day, twice a day as she made her way across the Pacific. The wait was painful and seemed to take forever but she slowly made it across, dodging a few storms along the way.

What you don’t see in the pictures above is that just as they lifted Steppin’ Out from the cargo bay and she’s hanging in the slings just above the deck, one of the cranes that was lifting, BROKE! They couldn’t set the her down or continue the lift and it took them 3 hours to fix it! Our broker called to share the news and I can tell you it was the longest 3 hours ever. Here we were, 22 months in construction, over 12,000 miles in transit and within feet of touching U.S. waters for the first time and she’s left hanging in mid-air! I was a wreck cause every YouTube video that I’ve seen of boats falling our of slings was played over and over in my mind. Finally, after 3 hours to fix the crane, she was slowly lowered into the water and with Capt. Mark at the helm, she slipped away under her own power and over to a marina for a rinse and splash of fuel.

@cruisingwithoutacalendar @mvsteppinout #marlow #marlowyachts #marlowexplorer #marlowexplorer70 #marlowexploreryachts #marlowlifestyle #trawlerlife #trawler #trawlers #trawleryacht #trawlerlifestyle #trawlerfest #trawleryachts #trawlerporn #yachtlife #yacht #yachts #yachting #yachtlifestyle #yachtdesign #yachtporn #yachtcrew #buildyourdreamboat #buildyourdreamyacht

This is a BIG day for Steppin’ Out! She was gently lowered into the South China Sea at the Marlow plant and then made her way 100 miles north to the port of Xiamen China under her own power. This stretch of the South China Sea can be very treacherous at times but every Marlow built travels this stretch as a final check of its ability to handle the elements!

Once Steppin’ Out reached the port of Xiamen, she is loaded onto a barge while awaiting the transport ship that will safely carry her thousands of miles across the Pacific ocean to her final destination in the U.S.

Unfortunately, the actual load onto the ship BBC Newcastle occurred at 2 am, local time, so there were no pictures of her safely tucked into the hold for her long journey East. Stay turned for the next portion of the voyage!

This week we have the “final” walkthrough before Steppin’ Out is leaves the factory and heads to the port to be loaded onto a ship for the transit to the U.S.!

The Salon is complete with the built in sofa cushions in place along with the lighting, TV, etc. The floors are covered with a protective sheet for the transit, so we can’t get a good look of the teak & holly flooring that was installed – it’s beautiful by the way!

The master stateroom is next with the lighting installed along with the mattress that we shipped over to ensure a proper fit. The granite in the galley is down and looks amazing as well. The day head up in the command bridge is pictured next and we carried the same granite here that’s used in the galley.

The woodwork in the office (and the entire boat) is stunning and this is the first build that they’ve added the office option. The 4 earlier hulls in this series made this space either a captains quarters or deleted it completely.

Finally, we end with a picture of the aft settee that is located in the command bridge in its “lowered” position with a filler cushion. This will be used when we’re doing an overnight passage so that whomever is “off watch” can sleep comfortably but still be close by if the need arises.

Today we get a look at the Upper Aft Deck area. Here is where we’ll store the Tender that we’ll use to explore and get us to shore when we’re anchored out. In the second picture you’ll see the Davit (crane) that we’ll use to pick up the tender and place it in the water when we’re anchored out. The Davit can lift 1600 lbs which is more than enough capacity for the Tender that we’ll have aboard.

Next you’ll see our Kenyon electric grill that is stored inside its own protective cabinet and under the roof so I stay dry while grilling if it happens to be raining!

Finally, I’ll end with a shot of the helm instruments that controls and monitors the engines, water makers, autopilots, windlass, search lights and wipers. We spec’d high back Stidd helm chairs for those long passages to keep us comfortable while on a long watch!

It takes a lot of power to bring Steppin’ Out to life! So let’s start with the overhead switches at the helm up in the Command Bridge. These control the bilge pumps, navigation lights, hydraulic system for the stabilizer fins, tank monitors for fuel, water & holding tanks.

The Crew Quarter electrical panel controls engine room fans, outlets, dewatering pumps, steering pumps, battery switches and monitoring systems in the engine room.

The main electrical panel is a beast and contains all of the breaker switches (24v, 110v and 220v) for all of the equipment aboard Steppin’ Out such as refrigeration, washer/dryer, stove, microwave, oven, water heaters, fresh water pumps and so much more! It probably looks more complicated than it really is but Marlow does an excellent job of laying out the panel and marking every switch so it’s easy to find with you need it.

Next up is the electrical panel in the Command Bridge and this controls the 12 volts systems for the navigation equipment, auto pilots, radar’s, multifunction displays, etc.

Finally, we see some pictures of the Forward Utility space which is located just outside of and under the forward staterooms. In this space we see the Bow thruster tunnel, Spot Zero water purification system, the fresh water pumps (2), Ultra Violet light and one of the two water heaters. The Spot Zero takes the dock water or water maker water and runs it thru a reverse osmosis system that brings the total dissolved solids to below 10 ppm. Our ice cubes come out so clear it’s almost like you’re looking thru glass. Additionally, we have installed a UV light that zaps any possible bacteria or viruses that might be present in our water tanks before sending clear & clean fresh water to the faucets throughout the boat.