For so many years, the thought of cruising was a far away dream, something that would happen one day. Even while we were boat hunting, it still felt like it would happen way down the road. It was not yet real. Then, all of a sudden, the dream becomes real and time runs short. We…
Deciding What to Bring On Board
Moving from a nice sized house to a 43 foot long sailboat means you must leave stuff behind. Sadly, It just won’t all fit on the boat. So, you have to be disciplined and pick and choose what you absolutely cannot live without. That is where my problem begins. You see, I may have gone…
The Funny Side of Buying a Boat
The boat buying process seemed to take forever for us. In hindsight, it was pretty amusing at times dealing with selling brokers. Here are just a couple of my favorite memories: The angry broker who called me and chewed me out for not being at the boat viewing appointment. He went on to recount how…
Survey, Sea Trial and Haul Out Day
Joe and I flew to Florida for the survey, sea trial, and haul out of the Taswell 43 we currently have a contract to buy. This was our first survey, so we found it most interesting and fun. We stayed at a nearby beach resort, mainly because it was close to the marina. Still, we…
Steps to Cruising
Once we made the decision to buy a sailboat and sail off into the sunset, we needed to take small, baby steps to realize the dream. For Joe and I, we started off by reading lots of sailing travel essays, adventure sailing books, subscribing to magazines like Practical Sailor, Blue Water Sailing, Cruising World, Sail,…
Searching For Your Cruising Sailboat
Good news, my latest boat hunting trip to FL was successful! I even had a side trip to Isla Mujeres near Cancun, Mexico, too to view another sailboat while I was in Florida. Joe and I now have a contract to purchase a sailboat- a Taswell 43 to be precise. I will be heading back…
SV Mahi 