For all those dreamers...

[scarlet]

For all the new people that come here with nothing more than a dream, I wanted to post my story so that you can see that dreams can come true.

I came to this site in the fall of 2013. In 2010 I lost my brother, to a very long horrendous illness that robbed him of a full life. Shortly after that, my father was rushed to the hospital for emergency quintuple bypass surgery. My marriage was falling apart... I was miserable in my job, and a host of other things happened that caused me to have a full emotional breakdown. I'm a good and strong person, but even the strongest trees in the forrest can break when they experience more than they could handle. It took me three years of therapy and medications, marriage counseling.. a new job.. etc. to heal and become strong again. That period in my life gave me pause to think.. "What the hell am I doing with my life?!?"

I didn't really start "searching for meaning" at that point, but I guess subconsciously I was open to something greater. One day I was reading the "Daily Mail" and there was a story about a couple from Great Britain who sold everything, bought a sailboat, and were cruising the world. That story was a metaphoric "spark" that started the fire burning inside me. I (quietly) started reading everything I could find about this, and was amazed to find that there is an entire community of people who are doing this. My fire began to burn brighter. Finally after about 6 months, I sat my husband down and told him that I, too, wanted to sell everything and cruise for retirement. He thought I had completely lost my mind. NO! (as an aside.. we had never even stepped foot on a sailboat!)

Well, I was not to be deterred. I started sending him photos of monohulls.. "isn't this one pretty?" "Couldn't you just imagine me cooking in that galley?" "wouldn't it be so exhilarating to hoist the sails and fly across the water to points beyond"? NO!

Well, one day I was sharing my dream with a fellow workmate who, to my surprise, said she had the same dream and that their plan was to buy a catamaran. WHAT IS A CATAMARAN?! So, I looked it up, and was filled with excitement. I sent a photo to my husband.. "how about this?" He didn't even hesitate... "ABSOLUTELY! lets do it!!"

So, off we went. We didn't know where to start, so we kept reading and researching. I joined the forum here. Then we decided we should go see a catamaran and see what they were like. So, we scraped together enough funds to go to the boat show">Miami boat show. We fell in love. But, there was one big problem... they were very expensive. The week we got home, we found a financial planner (the best in Missouri according to Barons!) and put together our plan. We went out and bought a little o'day 22 sailboat to begin learning on... we took a 7 day live-aboard ASA course to get 4 certifications. We started crewing on the racing boats at our yacht club.. took more courses.. studied, read.. sailed some more. Took some charters. pretty soon we were officially referring to ourselves as "advanced beginners".

Well, I'm here to share with you, that we are soon to be the proud owners of the most beautiful catamaran in the entire world. NO ONE has a boat as beautiful as this one is to us. Every time I think of her I get choked up, and I think of my sweet brother who's life was cut so short, and how we are going to live our lives with so much adventure for us, and to make up what he lost.

So, to those people... the dreamers... who come to this forum with nothing more than a dream...dreams do come true. But do not expect it to be easy. You have to work incredibly hard, and sacrifice so much, but it can be done, and the journey is amazing! Don't give it up.. not for anything or anybody.

So, I would like to state that I am finally a multihull owner!!!! And introduce to you our beautiful boat.. "La Perle Noire" (French for The Black Pearl).

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/201...dard%20listing

[Sail KiKa]

Congratulations ans well done! That is one darn cool start-up cat! :-)

[letsgetsailing3]

I'm just glad you were able to start small...

[Tayana42]

Scarlet, big congratulations to you and your husband for making your dream a reality. All of us who cruise share the dream of adventure, freedom and a life lived our own way. Yes, it can be done. We each find our own path to make it happen. Good for you. And thanks for sharing your inspirational story.

[boatman61]

But... But.. She's white..

Congratulations Scarlet.. hope you and your ole man have a ball and may all your adventures end safely..

[montenido]

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your story. She is a lovely boat and I wish you nothing but amazing adventures. Keep us posted of your travels.

Cheers, Bill

[atlroofman]

Originally Posted by boatman61

But... But.. She's white..

Congratulations Scarlet.. hope you and your ole man have a ball and may all your adventures end safely..

I think they are reffuring to the sail .

[daletournier]

Awesome stuff, well done.

[moctrams]

Damn good planner to get from a 22 foot boat to a $500,000 hotel. I would have to win the lottery.

[hatteras53]

Thanks so much for sharing your story with all of us. I am so very glad that you decided to light a single candle than curse the darkness. Your dear brother is still watching over you. Love and be loved is what it is all about !

[ArmyDaveNY]

Congratulations on your new boat, overcoming much adversity, saving your marriage, and making the dream come true!

Honda Soichiro (Yes, that founder of the Honda Motor Company) had a saying, "Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a nightmare” You have given us a great example of the truth of this. Thank you for sharing your story and I wish you continued success.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by scarlet

For all the new people that come here with nothing more than a dream, I wanted to post my story so that you can see that dreams can come true.

I came to this site in the fall of 2013. In 2010 I lost my brother, to a very long horrendous illness that robbed him of a full life. Shortly after that, my father was rushed to the hospital for emergency quintuple bypass surgery. My marriage was falling apart... I was miserable in my job, and a host of other things happened that caused me to have a full emotional breakdown. I'm a good and strong person, but even the strongest trees in the forrest can break when they experience more than they could handle. It took me three years of therapy and medications, marriage counseling.. a new job.. etc. to heal and become strong again. That period in my life gave me pause to think.. "What the hell am I doing with my life?!?"

I didn't really start "searching for meaning" at that point, but I guess subconsciously I was open to something greater. One day I was reading the "Daily Mail" and there was a story about a couple from Great Britain who sold everything, bought a sailboat, and were cruising the world. That story was a metaphoric "spark" that started the fire burning inside me. I (quietly) started reading everything I could find about this, and was amazed to find that there is an entire community of people who are doing this. My fire began to burn brighter. Finally after about 6 months, I sat my husband down and told him that I, too, wanted to sell everything and cruise for retirement. He thought I had completely lost my mind. NO! (as an aside.. we had never even stepped foot on a sailboat!)

Well, I was not to be deterred. I started sending him photos of monohulls.. "isn't this one pretty?" "Couldn't you just imagine me cooking in that galley?" "wouldn't it be so exhilarating to hoist the sails and fly across the water to points beyond"? NO!

Well, one day I was sharing my dream with a fellow workmate who, to my surprise, said she had the same dream and that their plan was to buy a catamaran. WHAT IS A CATAMARAN?! So, I looked it up, and was filled with excitement. I sent a photo to my husband.. "how about this?" He didn't even hesitate... "ABSOLUTELY! lets do it!!"

So, off we went. We didn't know where to start, so we kept reading and researching. I joined the forum here. Then we decided we should go see a catamaran and see what they were like. So, we scraped together enough funds to go to the Miami boat show. We fell in love. But, there was one big problem... they were very expensive. The week we got home, we found a financial planner (the best in Missouri according to Barons!) and put together our plan. We went out and bought a little o'day 22 sailboat to begin learning on... we took a 7 day live-aboard ASA course to get 4 certifications. We started crewing on the racing boats at our yacht club.. took more courses.. studied, read.. sailed some more. Took some charters. pretty soon we were officially referring to ourselves as "advanced beginners".

Well, I'm here to share with you, that we are soon to be the proud owners of the most beautiful catamaran in the entire world. NO ONE has a boat as beautiful as this one is to us. Every time I think of her I get choked up, and I think of my sweet brother who's life was cut so short, and how we are going to live our lives with so much adventure for us, and to make up what he lost.

So, to those people... the dreamers... who come to this forum with nothing more than a dream...dreams do come true. But do not expect it to be easy. You have to work incredibly hard, and sacrifice so much, but it can be done, and the journey is amazing! Don't give it up.. not for anything or anybody.

So, I would like to state that I am finally a multihull owner!!!! And introduce to you our beautiful boat.. "La Perle Noire" (French for The Black Pearl).

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/201...dard%20listing

Awesome, Fair Winds Following Seas

[Greg Mason]

Scarlet, welcome to the small percent club. That you were able to overcome all those adversities, but never lost the will to dream is a tribute to yourself.There are lots of folks who dwell on what was lost, fewer who desire to get past the dark and walk toward the light. I have often said if we walk into the light, the shadows will be behind us. Congratulations to you.

[belizesailor]

Congratulations!

Im a strong believer that we can all shape our own reality...all it takes is the motivation to do it!

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by moctrams

Damn good planner to get from a 22 foot boat to a $500,000 hotel. I would have to win the lottery.

Well, I guess he was because he gave us some great advice.

1. Live beneath your means... which we did. For example , we bought a crappy small house that was the worst house on the block... and remodeled it as we could afford to.. doing all our own work. Our friends (who were in the same socio-economic background as us) had houses 3-4 times as big and as expensive as we had. We took that principle, and applied it to everything.
2. Learn the difference between "needs and wants". We would get what we needed , and wants became a special treat and not the norm.
3. invest every cent you can. We paid our bills, took care of needs.. then at the end of the month, invested every cent we had left.

There were plenty of other things he taught us, but those were the ones that had the biggest impact. The stumbling block for many people, is that they are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices. I see that with my foster son. They want the perfect house, even though they can't afford it, and are unwilling to look in different areas, or at smaller houses, or fixer uppers. We were willing to sacrifice today, so that we could live our dream later.