Slipping the Dock lines -- Temporairly

[Charlie]

Off to Punta Gorda, FL tommorrow. The family and I have chartered an Etap 32 for a week and then will spend a second week in a condo. Looking forward to the vacation. I'm jealous of all you liveaboards but Beth and I made a deal before we got married. We both wanted to go cruising but didn't want to sell everything buy a boat and start over when we got done cruising

Now with two kids and everything it is that much more complicated.

Well after some OCD searching of the internet I found an Islander 36 in San Carlos Mexico. Hopefully it has bottomed out on its depreciation. I've got an accepted offer and now all I need to do is the Sea trial, survey, and write the check. It is an inconvenient time as part of the due diligence period will have us in FL but Oh well. GEt home from FL and then jump on a plane to Mexico to do sea trial etc.

Originally I had planned on buying an I36 on SF Bay and slowly taking it down the coast and up into the Sea of Cortez. Leave the boat there for the summer and then come down and sail it in the winter. Well with the boat already there we will need to change our plans. (yeah some sob story)

Next winter I hope to take a month off and cruise the Sea of Cortez. Depending on how the family likes it I'll either do it as two two week trips or maybe a full month. I don't know how I can go wrong convincing the family it is a good thing unless I turn into Cptn Blyh on the boat.

I sold it to Beth as "We'll buy this boat. We'll try it and see how we like it." If we lose $5k to $10k on the boat well thats better than buying a $200k boat after selling the house and then figuring we don't like it or are incompatible on the boat. (We did meet sailing so I'm not worried about that though) If we lose all the $ we spend on the boat it will really suck but it won't break the bank. We'll still have the house. As long as we get two weeks worth of sailing out of her per year we will do better than we do now chartering a boat every year. Kinda like a Mexican timeshare except with maintenance chores. I've got to be really attuned to making sure that the family has fun on this charter b/c it is the first step to moving aboard and slipping the dock lines for an extended cruise.

Wish me luck. I'll probably be out of contact for the next week or two but we'll see if there are any hotspots available.

Good luck and congratulations.

[CaptainK]

Looking forward in hearing about your adventure upon your return, Charlie.

Good luck. Fair winds & seas!