That was a very common response by our friends when we (in our early to mid fifties ) purchased our first boat - a 46' Meridian. Personally, I didn't know we were "in to boating" either, but I was game for an adventure .... and as it turned out, we really LIKED it !! Then things evolved .... following is something I wrote (in the wee hours one sleepless night ) at the time we decided to purchase our current (and forever!) boat - a 60' Nordhavn.
In the story that is your life .....
We have no control over the timing of when opportunities present themselves. I believe that is in God’s hands. What we do with these opportunities is up to us ... we can seize them and try and make them work, or we can pass them up with the hopes that the situation may present itself again, when the timing is better... when we can afford it .... when we have more time .... when the kids are older ....
I can’t tell you exactly how this all began, but whatever this little itch started as, has blossomed into something truly wonderful and very exciting. What started MANY years ago, as a desire for some waterfront– a peaceful little cabin on a body of water somewhere – has twice now, morphed into a beautiful home, literally ON the water.
Our first home was a beautiful Meridian 459, which we appropriately named WATERFRONT. Thanks to our boys, we even had wine glasses with our “dream” etched on them !! It was a BIG step with a very steep learning curve, but we managed, and we loved it. We were hooked.
Then the dream grew, as they often do. Cam’s plan to retire is about 5 years down the road and the idea of travelling on the boat to exotic places sounded like a wonderful vocation for the early part of retirement. We needed a boat that we could safely do that in. Along came Sea Level ... a Nordhavn 60.
It was the opportunity of a lifetime, and on October 1, 2011, our offer to purchase her was accepted .
Our new “little cabin on the water” is a stunning 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom home with a designer kitchen and enough technology to run the Canadian Navy. It is “all that the captain ordered” .... pristine, seaworthy, elegant, comfortable, able to accommodate family and friends and fully loaded with all sorts of gadgets ... AND, like her “first and only mate”, comes from Norwegian roots !
The boat is perfect.
The timing .... not so much.
In a perfect world, this opportunity would have presented itself in about 2 years. At that point, many of the uncertainties we are sweating, around our ability to afford this dream, would be more certain if not fully realized. However, that is not the case. But we have done our due diligence. Cam has run a myriad of financial scenarios (I think he’s up to 9 or 10), we have spoken with people “in the know” – financial experts who are confident that our dollar will strengthen, that interest rates will continue to stay low. Boat experts that feel this is a buyers market (a good thing for us purchasing the Nordhavn 60, but not so good for us selling our Meridian 459 .... Stay tuned for how that all works out. )
We are encouraged by the things that have “fallen into place” and see it as a sign that we are on the right path. We are hopeful that, God willing, this beautiful ship will carry us, our family and our friends to exotic and exciting places, to experience the wonders of this amazing world. It is our dream for the next chapter in our lives.
Let this next chapter be extraordinary....
So we purchased Sea Level and began getting her ready for the adventures that lay ahead. We were just over a year and a half sorting out "electronic issues" (yes ... that IS a technical term) in Anacortes WA. It took a while ... we were in no rush .... The people that worked on her became our good friends and the memories made during that time are very special ... we had a lot of fun and fell in love with Anacortes ... We will be back !!!
Our beautiful Meridian sold after a year and a half, to her new "forever owners" and we know they will enjoy her ... she's a perfect coastal cruising boat.
June 1st 2013 and we brought Sea Level into Canada. The trip was ... interesting ... hitting some snotty winds and we, and ours sons joining us, were SO seasick. Clearly we need to TOUGHEN UP !!!
Sea Level II ( her new Canadian name !) is pretty much ready to go, for our first real big adventure .... a circumnavigation around Vancouver Island this summer !!
We will start out travelling with Penny and Lawrence Talbot ( aboard Malahide) and Christopher and Diana Dent ( aboard Colibre). Penny will be blogging about their adventure as well, on her blog site -
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/malahidecruise/ She is a great writer and you'll enjoy her perspective ....
Joining us on our boat will be my dad for our first week (I'm VERY excited to be getting to spend this special one on one time with him ... here's hoping for great fishing !! ). We hope to have two of our sons join us at some point, work schedules permitting ! Finally we will be wrapping up the last few days of our trip with some of Cam's family. They are GREAT fun and always game for an adventure, so we are looking forward to having them aboard !!
So in just over a week - with freezers full of food, tanks full of fuel, lots of Gravol and scopolamine patches and MOST importantly, a well-stocked liquor cabinet - we will cast off.
Stay tuned .... I'll keep you posted !!
