Hey MarkJ

[Alan Wheeler]

When are we going to get a Photo Essay on your new purchase??

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

When are we going to get a Photo Essay on your new purchase??

When the vendors give me the #$%^& boat!

I think they have stolen it to go for a last booze cruise around St Maarten!

Seriously, though, things are going excellently! As you know the boat is an ex-charter boat but unlike 'normal' charter boats this one was actually owned by Sunsail. So as they are the vendor they have been excellent to deal with.
The agreement included having the surveyors list fixed by Sunsail.

So the boat is in the yard having the bottom scrubbed and painted
The photo below shows it after it was pressure hosed while in the slings so the missed band shows what it was like its botties was like! The black blotches must have been either the first coats of antifouling (or close to) the later zillion coats are just pealing off from it. So the whole lot has been taken back to the gel coat. I'm not sure how good it is to sand it back that far.

We go have a look each day but we are not working on it ourselves. Too many cooks etc.

Its another week before we get it... maybe longer. So we are cooling our heels till then, saving cash, making lists, scouting any sale on the whole island.

Oh, we named it too: Sea Life

Just can't wait till we get it.

Mark

[Rangiroo]

Mark...what are you doing with it once you get it....sailing back to Aus??...we are in Lake Worth Inlet at West Palm Beach at the moment waiting on some parts...as soon as they get here (next week hopefully!!) we are off to the Bahamas for a lightning visit then straight to the Panama Canal and off to Tahiti etc etc...wondering if we might run into you on the way somewhere.....

Michael

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Rangiroo

Mark...what are you doing with it once you get it....sailing back to Aus.
Michael

Hi Michael,

We don't know yet. Its been such a difficult road getting here that we have learned to just take one decision at a time. Stepping stones we call them.
We will get on board and do some sailing and then see how we feel and how the investments are going.
One scenario is to go to the Med in May for a quick look and back to the Caribbean in November to head into the Pacific.
Other options and to go south in the Caribbean for hurricane season and then Pacific in November. Other option is to go the the Pacific asap.

We don't know!

In concept of our adventure, I like voyaging as opposed to cruising. In that I would like to do a quick circumnavigation first, then a slower one. Thats as opposed to some that spend 5 years in one ocean.

But all things can change. And thats part of the fun of it!

It would be great to run into you! How long are you in the Pacific? From there where? We really want to hang out with other cruisers too. Have fun, relax, drink beer and see the bloody world!!!!!
Also we are not adverse to doing some cruising in company... or even going for a race! Beat you to the Panama!


Mark

[Rangiroo]

Oh Boy!...a race to Panama...them's fightin words!!!......seriously though...after Panama we are doing the usual milk run to French Polynesia etc etc to be in NZ by the end of Nov......we too are new to this so it's all open ended....probably 6mnths in NZ then I'm not sure where next....either a big circle through Micronesia Japan Philipines and back down to Australia or head to Aus and circumnavigate it...or not...who knows...the ultimate goal is a circumnavigation...but just how we do that is all subject to a "where shall we go today?" policy......the object being that we don't actually HAVE to go anywhere if we don't want to!...

Maybe we'll bump into you somewhere along the way...

Michael

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Rangiroo

Micronesia Japan Philipines .....Maybe we'll bump into you somewhere along the way...

Michael

The Inland Sea of Japan is meant to be fascinating and some of those phillipines islands look truly bizzare.

Theres so many places to explore (I'll even give a grudging nod to New Zealand for 6 days... or did you say 6 months!? ).

So much to do and so much time to do it. Thats what I love

All the best


Mark

[Maren]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Oh, we named it too: Sea Life

Because that's what was on the hull?

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Maren

Because that's what was on the hull?

ROTFLMAO! Yes! We were thinking of: "Whole Bloody Eco System" when we pulled it out! It was a good scraping job for the seller to do!


Mark