Oh my Gosh - my dream is coming true!!!

 A little background for those who may not already know it...

For many, many, years, I have dreamed of traveling to beautiful tropical places.  (I'm just not much of a winter person.)  But for over 20 years, I was married to someone who would not do anything even remotely adventurous. It got far worse as the years when by, and toward the end, he would just barely leave the house to cruise the aisles of the grocery store. (I am NOT exaggerating here.)

My sense of adventure was so stifled for so long, that when I left that situation, I made a vow to myself that I was going to try as many new things as I could. I was going to go out and see this big beautiful world,  I was GOING to travel.  I didn't exactly know how, but I was determined to make it happen. 

Fortunately, I was introduced to sailing, and loved it.  Sailing is an wonderful way to travel, because your boat is your accommodations and your transportation.  You don't have to spend money to fly from one place to another or pay for hotel rooms. It's all right there below your feet, and - so far anyway - the wind is still free for those who chose to use it.
 

Sailing is slow, but it is also quiet and unobtrusive, so you tend to see a lot more wildlife. And you're not polluting the air or using a bunch of fossil fuel when under sail.  I was fairly sure that sailing was my best shot at travel. I was no longer going to just cruise the aisles of the grocery store, I was ready to cruise the tropical isles!  My search began,... 

Last January, I found Sid.  An electrical contractor, who was also a sailing instructor, and a certified Captain through the Coast Guard. He was looking for a companion to sail with him in the tropics.  Hmmm,...   (You'd think what he and I were looking for would be easy to find, but it is NOT.  People are not comfortable with leaving their safe jobs and comfy houses to get into a small boat and go out on that big scary ocean.) But as luck would have it, and with a little help from match.com,... we found each other.

Now, 8 months later, our joint dreams are coming to fruition.

Yesterday, we made an offer on one of the boats Sid looked at during his boat hunting trip to Florida last week. (I say WE, because I am able to qualify for the "first time home buyers" credit, and this boat will qualify, so I will get to contribute that money to the purchase of this boat. Hooray for stimulating the economy!!!)  We made a 'low ball' bid, figuring better to start too low than too high. Well, today, the owners countered, with a figure slightly higher than our bid, but still about 5K lower than we were willing to go.  So, we accepted the offer - contingent on an acceptable sea trial and survey. (That means Sid has to go down and actually SAIL it, and then it's pulled out of the water, and a boat expert does a full bow to stern survey on it looking for problems.) 

 If we are happy with both the sea trial and the survey, we sign the papers and become the owners of this beautiful Island Packet 40!

  

She is a1994, 40 feet long, with 2 nice cabins and 2 heads, (bathrooms), so that we can have company come visit and they'll be comfortable during their stay! (It can sleep up to 7 people)

 

 The boat has lots of room up above in the cockpit  for sitting around having cocktails and enjoying the warm Caribbean sunshine, and plenty of room down below for comfortable seating while visiting and eating.

Again, if all goes well with the sale, and it should,... we will have to move her to the Bahamas within 90 days, to avoid paying 5K in state sales tax.  Let's see, that would put us in the Bahamas for Christmas. 
Oh, bummer...