We’re going to talk about the vintage pond yacht in just a minute, but I have to say this is Feels Like Home book launch eve! While the books have been shipped and some are already on store shelves, tomorrow is the official launch day and I am about to burst with excitement!
If you preorder Feels Like Home from Amazon early enough today, you might be able to receive the book in the mail tomorrow! I also spotted it at my local Barnes & Noble store this week, so you might be able to pick up a copy at your local store even today. You can check for availability HERE.
Or you can preorder Feels Like Home from any of these retailers…
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Worthy Publishing | Books-a-Million | Indie Bound
And claim your preorder bonuses HERE and find instructions on claiming your preorder bonuses HERE if you need some help. The preorder bonuses are an original art download, a bonus chapter (The Feels Like Home Renter’s Guide), and five videos including workshops on matching fabrics and enhanced tutorials from the book.
So, let’s talk about this amazing vintage pond yacht. I follow one of my favorite local consignment shops on Instagram (Kismet) and was scrolling through their Stories one day, seeing what they had in the store, and I spotted this amazing vintage, wood & blue pond yacht with cream-colored sails. It also looked like it was a good size and I know their prices are always good, so I inquired about the price. $28 was the reply and I couldn’t claim it fast enough. An antique or vintage pond yacht is something that’s been on my back-burner wish list for a long time, but I never came across one that I loved that was also a good price.
This one is magnificent, though, and was an amazing deal. I saw similar ones listed on Etsy in the neighborhood of $350.
It is 36″ tall and looks to be completely intact. The little rudder even moves back and forth when you steer it with the steering-stick-thingy. You can tell I really know my sailboat stuff. Someone told me the proper name and I promptly forgot.
I’m actually not really into boating or sailing, but I love painting sailboats and would like to paint more of them. I like the idea of painting this vintage pond yacht as a still life. It’s pretty handy to have one I can move into the studio anytime!
The pond yacht is sitting on the built-ins in my living room until I find the perfect spot for it. Usually, my rule is I don’t buy something unless I have the perfect spot for it, but you know what they say about rules…
I have a few ideas for where this amazing vintage pond yacht could go, but I’m sort of enjoying it here for now.
So, a serious question for all of the pond yacht specialists out there… If you put your little sailboat into a pond, how do you get it back out? Do you just have to wait for it to blow ashore? Do you swim for it? What if it sinks? Maybe you just sail it in shallow reflecting pools? Inquiring minds need to know…
On a side note, it was the pond yacht that lured me into the store and I ended up leaving with that, the antique post office register, a splint basket, and a quilt!
What a great buy! I also love it! You do find the most amazing buys! I can’t wait to see your paintings of the yacht. Yes, your haul that day from the consignment shop was something to write home about!
Hey Marian, I purchased your book online awhile ago. I’m having problems registering an account to claim the bonus content… nothing happens when I enter my info and I’m unable to login. Any tips?
I have seen old videos of young boys playing with them…..mostly in fountains or shallow pools. They use a long stick to retrieve or steer them. However, I might be inclined to even attach a string…
Beautiful boat! What a find! I know nothing about sailing them except that they are a lovely sight to see in Paris… Tuileries gardens…
It would look great on top of that clock!
Could the color of the pond yacht be any more perfect? It fits right in with your home and will be quite a conversation piece. Your home is coming along beautifully. Congratulations on the launch of your book…how utterly exciting!
I have my copy of your book and am enjoying it! This is the first time I’ve ordered a book before it’s launch.
The boat is a real find!
What a spectacular find…and price too!!! Seems it would be fitting to display it in the great family room, or in the boys’ rooms.
I’m sure you’ll create some beautiful paintings. I envision one with the yacht sitting in a pond under the glow of a harvest moon.
“Steering-stick-thingy” is the tiller. Everything on a boat has a name: keel, mast, boom, etc. I was once a novice, too, with these terms, but having lived for more than 50 years with an avid sailor, most of those years with our own boats, I quickly learned the jargon. “Steering-stick-thingy” is pretty self explanatory, though! LOL
I checked with my local Barnes and Noble and am on my way to purchase Feels Like Home. I am in my car using the steering stick thingy!!! Can’t wait to get it!!! Congratulations!!!???
I just have to post….Congratulations Marian, I am sooooo very happy for you!!!
Hi Marian,
You might be interested in looking up pond boating in Luxembourg garden in Paris. Renting pond boats to sail there is a popular past time. Yours is beautiful ❤️
I preordered mine August 10th from Amazon, and it hasn’t shipped yet, oh well. Patience.
Put it on top of the clock in the picture. I think it would look amazing there!
Thought the same thing Sara!
What a beautiful boat. I am so jealous, it is great. I think you should put it on top of the clock like Sara said above, I bet it would look great there. I am excited to get my preorder book from Amazon. Congratulations on you book rolling out!
Hi Marian: One of the many things my dad built was Pond Sailors. A Minneapolis man with fond memories. I have one of his on a shelf over my front door. 36″ Tall it’s fabulous. Next time I can participate in our mentoring session I will show it to you. We are traveling the next 3 weeks so I will miss this month.
Beautiful sailboat! How about in the basement “gentleman’s library” for its new home?
Excited to get my book, hopefully tomorrow!!!
I just ordered it and got all my bonus content with no issues. I wanted to know if you will be signing book plates for this book by chance? I would love one if so. I have been following your blog since the beginning,
which I think was 2009 maybe? I love all of your furniture revamps and have used so many ideas from MMS. Thank you! I can’t wait to receive my book!
Marian, Congrats on your book release tomorrow! The sailboat is spectacular! My Dad was really into making, flying & sailing radio control airplanes, boats & sailboats. He built a beautiful sailboat! Mom & Dad retired to a Lakeside home in NC. Radio control is a really fun hobby. You should look into it for your boys! Your sailboat might have a inner compartment that would hold the device.
Your lovely pond yacht brought back memories of reading Stuart Little to my first graders. What a beauty she is! Happy Launch Day!
Congratulations! I can’t imagine your excitement today, knowing your book is getting into the hands of thousands of readers and all your hard work has come to fruition.
My husband’s dad had two pond yachts and we now have one of them. I have no idea what to do with it, how to clean it, how to repair the sails, etc., Lots of research to do! I will be following along on your boat’s “journey” to its place in your home.
I was so excited about your book that, apparently, I ordered it twice! Looking forward to getting them soon. One will be a great Christmas gift!
Love the pond yacht. I can identify with your shopping trip….go in for one thing, and something else catches your eye and comes home with me, too! It happens too often….
Love the boat. On a side note, I just received notification that my book shipped. Woo!! Hoo!! Cannot wait to get it. The weather is turning cooler, so I have something to keep me occupied for awhile.
It’s beautiful.
Sculling is the answer to your question about moving a sail boat without a breath of wind. I know how this works in theory only, because I haven’t done it myself & I am still learning. We own a sailboat which we keep docked on a lake. Ours has a motor, but when without a motor or wind, sculling will get you there along with lots of patience! Sculling involves moving the tiller back and forth like a fish moves a fin. You move it rapidly in one direction, then slowly in the opposite – just like you would move your arms while swimming under water. You change course by moving the tiller only from the center to the opposite side in which you desire to turn. P.S. I love your addition!
Oh my goodness, only if we had known you loved sailboats! Should you vacation in the Tampa Bay area again, please accept our invitation to visit our community sailing center. You would enjoy watching the children sail. It’s a beautiful place.
I bought one of you sail boat prints and framed it in a beautiful frame I bought for $3 at the Restore store in Charlotte, NC. I can tell you, I am in love with how it looks in it!