Finding “The Vortex”

Neil and I decided that we wanted an adventure when we retire, rather than just sitting on the couch watching TV.

We thought about getting either an RV or a Motor yacht.  We thought the boat idea was a lot more romantic than an RV.  Plus, we can go further on boat than on land.  Once we settled on getting a boat, we started looking around to get an idea of the cost, etc.

We called a broker down in San Diego whom we connected with immediately.  His name is Tom and the first thing he did was steer us away from a motor yacht.  He said we’d be limited to how far we could go on a tank of gas.  Plus, we’d always have to know where we’d be getting our next fill-up.  And motor yachts, we were told, were not as safe on the ocean as sail boats.  Sail boats are much less likely to capsize.  And wind is free, so overall, the cost of running one would be considerably cheaper than a motor yacht.

Once we decided on a sail boat, we knew we’d have to take some lessons.  Sailing, in our eyes, was much more complicated than just steering a motor yacht.  So we signed up and completed our basic sailing course.  In the meantime, we started looking at boats for sale to get an idea of the size and price range that would work best for us.

We decided to get a large, heavy boat,  mostly for safety and stability reasons.  We spent several months looking at boats for sale on-line with the plan of going to San Diego in October to buy our boat.  It is our intention to take off on our journey in January 2011.

Once we got to San Diego, Tom showed us a few boats that he felt would be good for us considering our experience level and our goal of sailing as much of the world as we wanted.  A big, strong boat would be safest for “blue water” or middle of the ocean voyages.  It is not our intention to sail across any ocean for probably at least a couple of years, but once we do, its good to know we have the right boat for it. 

We found a boat we both fell in love with, almost immediately.  She’s a 45 foot Columbia.  And she’s equipped to go anywhere.  She has storm windows, two GPS units, 7 batteries, 2 generators, a battery-charger, a HAM radio and large refrigeration and freezer units.  She has two stateroom, two heads, two flat panel TVs, a stereo with speaker throughout, a large, fully enclosed cockpit (which also can be opened up), a head sail furler, autopilot, etc. etc.  So, we bought her.  Actually, we made an offer.  Acceptance is in about a month (end of November).

And we’re naming her “The Vortex”.  If you know Abraham-Hicks, this name will be familiar to you.  If not, just know that the vortex is a place of good feelings, where the things you want manifest easily (the place of dreams).

If you are interested in keeping in touch and hearing about our adventures, check back here.  We’ll be providing updates regularly.