Haul Out 2013

Here's the haul out during the survey on the Beneteau 393.  Finally time to start adding more cool pics to the blog!

 Here she is after she was navigated thru the marina to the lift - apparently the Banana River is a little low right now and her 6'2" draft was not helpful.  She's stuck in the mud.  

They finally got her un-stuck and lifted.

 Then rolled her over to the inspection sight so the hull, keel, rudder, prop etc could be inspected.

Good idea of her size in these pics of us walking below her.  Our last boat was 18'... and didn't have a mast.

 Our first sail!  She didn't sink.  I'll take that as a good sign.

We finally signed and returned the Acceptance of Vessel form last night.  Now we're just waiting until the closing date and she's officially ours!  (what have we done?)

e-ddicted.

I'm addicted to e-books.  Not just any e-books, but sell-everything-you-own-buy-a-boat-and-just-get-out-there e-books.

I've been following lots of blogs over the last year or two - it started right after we decided that talking about living on a boat is fun, but actually LIVING on a boat would be sowaycooler.

I've read Bumfuzzle, A Sail of Two Idiots, Happier than a Billionaire (ok, that one's not about sailors, but still pick up and leave the rat race - and hilarious!) - and so many more.

Just had a referral for Embarrassment of Mangoes - and plan to start that today on the drive down to check out the Beneteau.  Know of any other good ones?  Did YOU write one?  I'm happy to contribute to the sailing kitty, as long as I get a laugh out of the deal.

Happy Sailing!

Jinx! (Part 1 of The Top Secret Steps of Buying a Boat)

I know, I know.  I don't technically own the boat yet, and I could be tempting the fates by assuming all will go thru, blah blahsidy blah.  I'm not a Tempting of the Fates kinda girl.  I'm more of a Ask the Universe for What You Want and Boom! It'll Happen kinda girl.  Anyway, I have been reading sailing blogs for a couple of years and often get frustrated when the writer chooses not to share all the details of that time between picking a boat and closing on the sucker (I get it - I just want to read about it!).  How am I supposed to learn anything if people don't blog about it!?!  (um, that's kind of a joke - see, I know I can learn things from places other than sailing blogs...) So here I am, documenting the purchase of a boat - good or bad you need to know the nitty gritty details, right?

Here's the low down:  (Keep in mind that we're starting from ground zero here - we don't even know how to sail yet!  This is just what we've learned up to this point)

1. Figure out what you really NEED in a boat - then find the smallest, most affordable version you can handle. It took us 2 years to travel from wanting a motor yacht to a trawler to a catamaran to this monohull...
2. Find that boat! As soon as we knew exactly what we were looking for, it showed up.  Thanks Universe :)
3. Make an offer (- good rule of thumb seems to be 10% less than listing price, but that may be something I've learned in haggling in general)
4. Put 10% of agreed upon price down via an escrow account with the Broker.  We went back and forth a couple of times before we agreed on a price (this 10% is to be wired to the account in most cases, and completely refundable to you if you change your mind at any time before signing the Acceptance of Vessel form)
5. Arrange for a survey/sea trial - find a surveyor that is certified with SAMS or NAMS in case the insurance/financing requires this.  Try to get referrals!  
6. Schedule a haul out at near by marina that coincides with Surveyor's schedule (Duh, they need to coincide, but I had to be told this.  Sometimes common sense is not so common.)
7. Apparently the broker/seller handles the hiring of a Captain to move the boat for haul out/sea trial
8. Arrange financing (if necessary) This will take a few weeks to close - just like a mortgage.  They will need a copy of the survey in order to close the deal.
9. Arrange insurance (they will also need a copy of your survey)
10. Arrange a slip for your new boat at a local marina!

We've completed almost all 10 of these items so far.  Just a few more details to be handled and then the waiting part kicks in.  Our survey/sea trial is scheduled in a couple of weeks, then closing is a couple of weeks after that.  Then we have to get our new floating home home!  We are still looking for a Captain for this, but have a couple of options lined up, I think.

I'll be doing another post after closing to list the rest of the steps - after I learn them ;)  In the meantime, I DO have photos and videos that I'm hanging onto for later posts.  Be patient - it'll happen!

Charleston Update

If you've been following along, you know we went to Charleston yesterday to check out a Beneteau 445.  She was a little rough, but the space on board is amazing.  We both loved the layout and roominess.  Absolutely a space we could both imagine living in.  This is the biggest boat we've looked at thus far.

We met up with a broker we'd not met before.  We've been through a few. One guy in St. Augustine we really like, but the rest - let's just say they are really lacking in skill with "newbie" sailors.  One local broker guy even told us the boat we wanted to look at one day was "too much boat" for us and to "come back and see him in a couple of years when we have more experience".  Hmmpf.  I don't take very well to condescension.  We are buying a boat.  If that man does not want our money, then so be it.   The guy in Charleston, however, was amazing.  I think we learned more about sailing (without even going out on the water) than we've learned in all of our research so far.  Sure, the repetition of hearing/reading the same info over and over is making things soak in faster, but he was also very skilled at sharing information.  And he was not the typical slimy salesman broker that we've been running into for the past couple of years.

We ended up looking at approx 10 boats yesterday at 2 different marinas.  I don't know if we found "our" boat yet, but we definitely made some headway.  We learned a few things that we don't want to compromise on (I DO NOT want a V-berth as my Master, I want a queen.  And we NEED a swim platform/sugar scoop for diving), some brands that we love and a brand or two that we want to avoid like the plague (I, in particular, do not love the lack of attention to detail on the Hunters).  I absolutely loved the layout of an Endeavor center cockpit (42'?) that we saw.  I'd be all over that boat if the price wasn't higher than we want to pay for a monohull.  It was gorgeous and roomy and would be ready to sail.  We both like the Island Packets, but also disliked their price tags.  They are gorgeous boats with amazing craftsmanship - in relation to the other boats we've seen, but we found some middle of the road boats as well that would allow us to set sail sooner.  The less money we spend on the boat, the faster we can be ready to take her out.  Sure, we could pay 50% more, but how much longer would we have to stay on land to pay for that?  Not worth the sacrifice.

That leads us to Catalina's.  Nice craftsmanship.  Really good layout.  Plenty of space on even the 35' model.  We'd pretty much ruled out anything under a 38' monohull and were looking at 40'ers.  Now we see how much difference a good layout can make.  I think we'll still shoot for a 38' or bigger, but if we find a good deal on a 350, we certainly will snatch it off the market!

We also picked up some good ideas on upgrades/modifications that other people have done to their boats.  Those will come in handy if we find a boat that needs some cosmetic work/layout adjustment etc.

Mark made a great point yesterday, as we kept looking at boats in higher and higher $ ranges:  we always look for a bargain in real estate.  We find a house with good bones and bad skin.  We fix it.  We make it pretty, save money on the purchase, then make money on the rental.  Why not apply that to our boat?  We have access to amazing craftsmen here in Savannah.  Why not buy sturdy but rough and make her shine?

So much to think about.  And I didn't take a single picture.  I was too engrossed in all the information coming from the broker.  And now the boats are all running together in my brain.  We've found a couple of other boats to check out in Charleston, so we'll need to plan another road trip.  One is an older, less sparkly version of the wonderful Endeavor center cockpit we looked at yesterday.  And I think we'll revisit that 44' *Beneteau that was our original draw to Charleston.

Surely it goes without saying that we hung out in Charleston for some delicious lunch, people watching and gelato before heading back to Savannah.  It's such a gorgeous city.  Looking forward to visiting from the boat one day in the near future!


*Beneteau:  they've all seemed a bit rough around the edges.  Can't decide if the ones we're checking out in our price range just happen to be from people that don't care for their boats, or if poor workmanship is leading to the early/common destruction of the gel coat.  Any thoughts here?

Still learning...

It's been ages since we posted, but there's really no news.  We've spent the months researching boats and deciding the best path for us.  Still trying to figure out if we want to buy our own boat right out of the gate (dock?), or perhaps to work on a boat for that hands-on experience that we both crave.  I'm leaning toward working on someone's boat for a while - even if only for a short, temporary time frame.  I'm pretty darn sure the learning curve is going to be steep and priceless.

On the positive side we've been chatting with some locals about sailing lessons.  Neither has a boat, but they've got extensive knowledge in sailing.  We'll figure out those pesky boat details when the time comes.  Just to know we've got convenient/intelligent brains to pick is a relief!

We're also educating ourselves on potential income generators.  Sure would suck to finally get out to sea only to realize we're eating rice and fish for eons.  We don't expect to be as cushy-cozy as we are now, but look forward to the excitement of the changes, regardless.

I'm back to working on my Culinary degree and find myself mentally making modifications to recipes and taking note of cooking techniques that will work well on boats.  It's becoming a constant subconscious exercise in our daily lives to compare everything we do to how we can do it on a boat.  I think that's a good start ;)

Thanks for checking in.  Feel free to ask questions, follow the blog or offer some advice.  We're trying to soak up as much info as we can while we fulfill our land obligations!

Where IS she?!?

Holy Bujeezus.  I am not a shopper.  I know our boat is out there, and she'll show up when it's time.  That's just how this crazy Universe works.  But shopping for her is getting old.  Maybe it's time for a sunshine break!  

Happy happy Friday everybody!

It's all about balance.

We've come up with the name!  I'd like to say it took hours of creativity and brainstorming.  And it did - but that's not really where the name came from.  It showed up like all things do - it just popped into my brain when I was driving home, not thinking about the name of our (currently non-existent) boat.  I was watching the sun and just enjoying the scenery when BAM! it wormed it's way into my noggin and stuck.  I texted Honey Pie (he's going to enjoy this nickname when he starts participating in the blog.  Really, he is...)  and he thought it was great, too.  It's a balance of fun, cheese, marketability and meaning.

So what's the name?  The name of our boat is (drum roll) Sol Searcher.  See - a play on words, easy to remember and pretty darn literal, as well.
          *If you clicked on a previous link to Blogger - you may not've noticed that you were redirected to       www.SolSearcherAdventures dot com!  If you ended up on this site directly - thanks for finding us!

I knew when I was driving home and could see a logo in my brain, that I had it.  The only thing I didn't have was the SolSearcher website.  Seems someone already beat me to that one (they're a document delivery something or other, if you're curious.)  It's a shame that the cool name was taken by a document service, not a boat - but at least I haven't found another boat with that name.  Yet.

Obviously we spent another evening (or 3) brainstorming variations of the name - in hopes that we could come up with one we liked that was similar AND had an available website.  Eventually this got really old and I came at it from a different angle.  And Voila!  Sol Searcher Adventures.  That's exactly what this is - a log of our sunny adventures to come on the boat that is also still in the works.  :)

Speaking of the boat that is on our horizon - we're off to Brunswick tomorrow to check out a 38' FP Athena.  If you've read past posts, you may know that I currently have a large crush on the Fountain Pajot's.  We've been on a larger FP - and she was gorgeous, just too big.  We've been on a great sized boat that was 38', just not an FP.  Finally we will be putting the two together to see if this is really the brand/size we're looking for.  Heading out today - just after lunch.

Now we just have to decide if we're ready for this to be THE boat.  What if she's Sol Searcher and we're not ready to buy?  Or what if she's not, and we ARE ready to buy?  And so the journey continues.

Can we or can't we?

There's been a law in Georgia for about the last 20 years that you cannot live on your boat.  Not officially, anyway.  Lot's of people find ways around this law, just like any other law.  As we're often sticklers for following the rules (even stupid rules) we never really pursued living on a boat in Savannah.  We love Savannah, and have always wanted to live on a boat - but obviously the two were not compatible.  Until now (or 8 months ago).  Rumor has it that a law was passed and took effect in January 2012 that allows boaters to officially live on their boats.

I decided to Google that law for two reasons:
1.  I never understood why a state would FORBID a boater to live on the water, and I want the backstory.
2. Still a stickler for rule following, I want to be sure I don't go buy a boat only to find out that I can't really live on it.  (That would seriously suck.)

So here's what Mrs. Google has shared with me today:

http://www.gpb.org/news/2012/02/20/bill-would-legalize-living-on-boats

I still don't have an answer.  And I have a hard time believing that a law was passed purely based on improper disposal of waste.

Here's an exert from another article:
The law’s original intent when it was passed in the early 1990s as an amendment to the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act was to address a 
problem of people living aboard makeshift rafts and stilt houses on the Altamaha River and discharging untreated sewage overboard.

 I mean, really people.  If waste disposal is an issue - fine those found to be breaking waste disposal laws.  Don't forbid people from living on a boat.  Surely there is some other (perhaps, gasp, $$ based) reason for prohibiting liveaboards?

I love Savannah.  It's a gorgeous place.  We've spent 14 years here - almost more time than I've spent anywhere else.  We have loads of friends.  We have loads of access to water.  But I want to be IN water.  ON water.  SURROUNDED by water.  I promise promise promise I will dispose of my waste properly (ew).

Is it just another pretty face?

I am currently in love with the Fountaine Pajot cats.  I have officially decided that when I cash my lottery ticket I'm buying this one:

She's a 2012, located in France (I guess when we sail her back we'll have a perfect opportunity to learn how to - well, sail!)  She has a perfect layout for two people - with room for guests. (Not so roomy that those guests won't want to leave eventually - a method I put into practice even when buying my land-based homes...)

Sure we can afford one of the huge 56er's with our 200+ million dollar winnings, but I'll always be a frugal/responsible/waste-not-want-not kinda girl.  So the 43' Orana is perfect.  Roomy - but not cumbersome.  Sleek, modern lines - but not stuffy.  Well built - and with a fancy French name so I can be pretentious when I want to be.

Now I just need to do a little research on how she actually runs/sails/maneuvers - check out some reviews, etc.  You know - be the responsible buyer and not just go for the pretty face.  Oh, and buy that winning lottery ticket!

Gotta start somewhere...

Here's a page that's been open on the laptop for a while...

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/sailing-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

We really do plan to learn to sail next spring, but this can entertain me for now!

Know any books that are actually helpful?  I am really more of a hands on kinda girl, but am reading like a fiend these days, so it might be nice to have a goal related book.

Happy Sunday!  ☼

Day Charters

One of our many options for working/living on a boat includes Day Charters.  We don't really have many offerings here in Savannah - especially with an actual chef/delectable menu.  Now for the hard part - we need to research how others are doing this.  I see several day charters in my near future!

And since I'm also looking into getting my 6 pack eventually, that means I could land some jobs while Honey Pie is doing his thing at work.  Of course there may be a REASON there are not too many charters in town.  That deserves thorough researching as well.  It just won't be as much fun as sitting on a boat in Florida...  :)

Here's a nice little 38' Fountaine Pajot Athena

Our Current Boat Choice

Let me start out with - No.  I'm not always going to put Our Current Somethingorother in the title.  It's cheesy, I know.  But it entertains me for now, so I'm going with it.  :)

Wanna know how we've ended up searching for a catamaran?  Or wanting to eventually live on a boat in general?  Well, it was actually a pretty drawn out process.  Snuggle in, this post will be longer than most.

About a year ago my most fabulous husband came home from his job (which he loves, by the way, regardless of his occasional grumblings) in a foul mood.  Now, I'm sort of a sponge of a person. If someone is happy, I'll soak it up.  And that's lovely - energizing, really, and it makes me want to be around that person more and more.  But if they're negative or grouchy or mean - well, it's just draining.  It sucks the life right out of me.  This took me years to figure out, and now I'm very particular about who I spend my free time with.  Considering we've been married for almost 17 years, I don't see me cutting him loose just because he's in a bad mood.  I had to do something.

We started talking about fun things to do - jobs that we could love so much that we would jump out of bed each day to get started.  An Un-Job, if you will.  And  that got the ball rolling.  We'd discussed living on a boat for eons.  But it was always just a  passing comment here or there.  Now that we were Seriously Discussing it, we started looking at boats and talking/researching all of the ways that someone could truly live on a boat.   I started following blogs - one in particular (ZTC) - that really made it clear that it was possible.  We zoomed all over town looking at the boats in the marinas, and decided we'd go with a trawler.  They're an economical choice, and as we both have smaller power boat experience, we thought it'd be pretty similar to zipping around in our wakeboarding boat - just bigger...

We kept on this path for several months.  We would occasionally hit our favorite websites or drive thru the local marinas to see what was available.  I started Culinary school in January, and he got back to work on his scuba certifications.  Along with his MBA and my fitness certifications, we wanted to be sure we had some marketable skills.  But we were still biding our time, not really making any major decisions regarding The Plan.  Keeping in mind we could live on a boat tomorrow, but the retirement/work part has to wait.

Then March arrived.  I was diagnosed with super early (stage 0) breast cancer.  I'd been tested for a decade, and was not surprised when the positive diagnoses happened.  I had a double mastectomy a few weeks later and am currently in the middle of reconstruction.

The Diagnosis seemed to throw a wrench in our planning.  I had to finish up the semester early.  I had to stop working on my 200hr yoga certification (you'd be amazed how many yoga moves require pectoral muscles!) and we had to focus all of our attention on my healing.

As always - there was a silver lining.  I have time.  So, SO much time.  I've been researching like crazy.  I found more blogs (Bumfuzzle, Slapdash, etc) - and these people were all on catamarans!  We hadn't even considered a sail boat.  We don't sail.  We use motors and gas and whatnot.  I brought it up and we discussed it - and thought Why Not?! If we can learn to do all of these other things, we can learn to sail.

We looked into monohull designs very briefly.  When we realized we could get so much more square footage in a shorter length boat, we decided to check out catamarans.  That meant more research.  Thank goodness I love the internet and have so much free time these days!

As you may've seen in a post from a few days ago, we headed down to St. Augustine to actually board about a dozen different sizes/models of cats.  We love them.  I realize the plan could change again, but for now we are 99% sure a cat is for us.

There are about a zillion Gemini's out there - and at a decent price range, relatively speaking.  We saw one Saturday and felt like it could work if we go purely liveaboard.  But what if I want to get a 6pack and do some day charters around Savannah?  Probably not ideal.  We also saw a 38' Lagoon - and several others.  I was AMAZED by how "4 little feet" could make such a huge difference in living space.  Basically, we're still searching. We're still weighing our options, doing our research and enjoying this beautiful city we currently live in.  While plans are fabulous, we still want to enjoy the here and now.

What are your dreams?  Any you think are "crazy" or un-doable?  And how are you enjoying your Here and Now?  I'd love to hear/read your thoughts, so get busy with those comments.  :)

Ahh Snap.

Getting all tech savvy up in here. Finally figured out how to post blogs from my phone! I've been battling the android app for a couple hrs off and on.
Guess I have no excuses not to update regularly now!
The tornado that passed thru earlier cooled everything down just in time for high tide. The dolphins even came by to say hello :)

Out the condo door - smooth as glass and perfect for a paddle

The New Blog!

Welcome to the New Blog!

If you've been following my other blog (it's total randomness of my life) then you know I was out to start this blog.  I'm going to be documenting our boat buying purchase from start to sail - and hopefully beyond!

Brief Backstory:

My husband and I are already working on plans for our "Retirement" - or 2nd career, as we like to call it.  Our Current Plan is to find a boat that is possible to live on - and maybe even use commercially.  Maybe we'll hire out for day trips, dinner tours, etc. Or maybe we'll just bum around the Caribbean.  We don't know - but by golly, I'll be tracking the plan whatever it is!

Timeline:  Well, that's up in the air.  We have so many decisions to make, and we're going to take our time.  We have a kid in college and don't plan to ditch her for the sea life anytime soon.  (perhaps to her dismay ;)  Not to mention - we're no where near "old enough" to retire...

So what are some of our initial decisions?  You'd be surprised at how many questions are running around in our brains! (it's a little crazy in there, so I'll spare you and try to condense)

What type of boat?

What's the name of our boat?

What size of boat?

What exactly are we going to use this sucker for?

Uh, how do you sail...?

New vs Used vs Really Old and need of repair?

I think I'd like to take a little time on each of these topics - so now we know what sort of posts we're looking at for the next week at least :)

Thanks for checking out the blog - and please feel free chime in often.  Are you planning to set sail?  Have you already done it?  Does the thought terrify you?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!