House / Boat Swap

[Leopard Star]

Not any every day request!
My wife Holly and I would like to give our 2 girls a long term cruising experience and take them out of school for a while (they will be 6 and 9yrs). We are looking at a finite time slot between March and the end of August 2012. We aim to cruise the northern Windwards making our way south for June, then spending June – August in the vicinity of Grenada / Tobago, an area we know very well. It was a no brainer last time to own a yacht for our 3 ½ year cruise but for a 6 month slot, by the time you factor in costly brokers it just doesn’t seem worth it. Given that most of the time slot we are looking at is low season in the Caribbean, I am hoping that arranging a long term charter should be achievable. We have considered a long term charter but our budget is not massive and the normal weekly rates are out of the question.
We have something else up our sleeve though, which may be of interest to you – if we can find an owner that wants a break and time to explore the UK & Europe, we would be willing to offer our house / car / sailing club membership & racing dinghy etc in the UK in a sort of house/boat swap. We live in a 4 bedroom house in a village called Painswick (in the Cotswolds) which is in Gloucestershire, central England. In terms of capital value we would be swapping (for 6 months) a house worth in the region of $650,000 and we would hope to be able to cruise on a sailing Cat with the ability to accommodate 8 (our family of 4 + occasional guests).
In terms of our profiles – We cruised the Windwards and Leewards as part of a 3 ½ year cruise on my monohull ‘Leopard Star’ (Moody Marksman 47). This was between 1999 and 2002. We have been back in the UK since then, getting married, having children, starting a business etc etc. I have about 33,000 miles under my belt – our trip took in Lisbon, Gibraltar, Spain, Balearics, Malta, Cyprus, Egypt, Suez Canal, Red Sea, Yemen, Oman, Seychelles, South Africa, St Helena, Brazil, W.Indies, Venezuela, Bahamas (then sold to a Canadian couple). Holly was on board from Cape Town onwards. Currently I am back racing dinghies and the odd South coast / cross channel charter + we took our extended family on a 47ft Cat out of Grenada in 2006. I am a mechanical engineer by trade and I also owned and ran a successful racing dinghy chandlery for 10 years. I consider myself to be a capable and safe skipper + I enjoy keeping yachts in good order. My current business is property rentals and management, a company jointly owned by myself and my brother Antony. Whoever took our house would be well looked after by him in my absence. Holly has been a teacher (kindergarden / reception) but is currently running her own wedding floristry business. Holly is 35 and I am 43. If required, we can provide excellent references from both a character and sailing capability point of view.
If you think you would like to spend some time in the UK and Europe, this could be a great opportunity for you at potentially neutral cost. If you would like to know more about us, the house, the village etc please make contact via email. Thank you very much for your time.
We hope to hear from you soon,
Kind Regards
David, Holly, Darcy & Isla (The Lynalls)

[Tennille]

Just a quick reply,

Hello, have you ever thought of sailing around Panama. My family and I live here and have a home and a sailing business on a great island called Bocas Del Toro. Its an awesome country and great island. Myself 35 from Us, my husband 49 from Germany and our two children 6 and 8 have lived here for 10 years. We are now itching to explore and see what else may be going on in the world. We do have a cat and a cute home built directly over the ocean. Our boat is parked at our dock, and we are walking distance to everything. There is a huge community of foreign families, great private school and so much to do and see. My children are tri lingual and super groovy!!! Perhaps Panama may be an idea. Check our website Bocassailing.com

Open to options, who knows!!!!!!!!

[Tennille]

also anything facebook, Bocas Del Toro