When me and my husband went to St. Thomas for our honeymoon we had no idea how much our lives would change. We instantly fell in love with the islands and beautiful
water. We looked at property, thought about what type of jobs were available and quickly decided that working 2-3 jobs each was not something either of us wanted to do. On our second trip to the islands we visited Tortola and looked at some used Cats that were available, the ones I liked were huge (45 on up) with a
price tag to match. After our 3rd trip, this time to St. Croix we decided it was time to take the
boat idea off of the back burner and really start looking. Everyone said that we needed to look at all different makes and models before making a decision..so we did just that. I came to the conclusion that although I loved cats..the monohulls had the room I wanted. I figured if my new home was going to be a
boat..then it needed to have plenty of
head room and feel more like a home. Yes we still looked at some cats but my thoughts were on Mono's.
Several months ago my husband sent me a link to "On On" but apparently I didnt give it second though, then I came across the link and sent it to him. Great minds think alike!! "On On" had everything we both wanted and then some. The key points for me : centerline master queen
bed, A/C, sugar scoop, Enclosure and plenty of room in the
cockpit. My husband liked the low hours on the
yanmar,
single owner and all the bells & whistles. Most of the other boats we looked at were missing something from one of our lists...except for "On On". We hadnt planned on
purchasing a boat until next year but we didnt want to pass on a good deal. At that point we were both on edge..do we? or don't we? Is this something we REALLY want to do? You know what was going through our minds. We decided to make an offer - sight unseen. Our friends and
family couldnt believe we would buy a boat unseen..but we trusted our gutt feeling and went for it. Within a day of contacting the
broker "On On" began her journey back to the states. Almost ALL of the negotiations were done by
phone between us, the
broker and owner. If you live in the
Caribbean and need a broker I must suggest The Little Ship Company on St. Maarten. Tony took very good care of us and we never felt rushed or intimidated. We flew to FL after the boat arrived and sealed the deal. The day we arrived "On On" was surveyed and the test sail was on Sat. The rest of the paper
work was completed over the
phone and
email...it was smooth going. Now we are the proud owners of a
Hunter Passage 45.
We plan on
learning to sail in the upcoming months and will take some sailing
classes in Corpus Christi. Our home will be put on the market in January..we hope! When the home sells we can move aboard full time and
work towards paying her off. The ultimate plan is to
cruise the
Caribbean and
South America. No plans on circumnavigating at this time.
If the
weather cooperates we will take our first sail (together) this Saturday.
Thanks for reading my novel..lol
Jennybug
Quote:
Jennifer - why not take a couple of minutes and update your profile. That part that reads "Boat: none" needs to be brought up to date!
In fact, if you can find the time, start a thread on the type and length of vessel you now own, letting everyone know why you selected her, and maybe a little about where you hope to cruise and when. We all feel like we went through the pins-and-needles delivery with you, waiting for a successful outcome, so we'd like to have all of the details. 
TaoJones
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