How it all began
This all started a couple years back. Following an evening watching a documentary about a teenage girl sailing around the world (solo I might add), Kerri and I found that we both had a liking to life aboard a sailboat. We talked about it for weeks following that night and decided that we would aim to start sailing a few years down the road, after we finished off our land-based travel plans of 2017 ad 2018, of course.
The plans to start sailing was never firmly scheduled. We were hoping to start looking at boats some time in 2019, and spend a year looking and learning. We occasionally discuss our future in a boat, but never took any real steps forward on the plan other than putting money aside for that fateful day and informing our loved ones of the plans to be. The Mom’s were not too pleased by the idea, but accepted it, although I believe both secretly hoped we would forget the whole idea.
As we were finishing up our 2018 travels along the West Coast, we found ourselves at one of our favorite towns in all of America; Port Townsend, Washington. It was here that we took a walk around the local marina docks to look at all the beautiful sailboats when we stopped to ask a gentlemen about his boat, which he gladly answered and even showed us the interior. And wouldn’t you guess it, he was selling the boat.
That interaction about his 37 foot Tayana got this huge ball rolling. We were heads over heals for his boat, but the price tag kept us from buying it right then and there. Instead, we decided on some due diligence and at least see some other boats before committing to one. We didn’t even know if this was a good boat or not, just that we liked the design (by Bob Perry).
We spent the next few weeks looking at more sailboats online before scheduling a weekend of viewings many boats all around the Puget Sound. We saw boats in various states of repair, price, and size. While they each had their pros and cons, none were really beating our original favorite – the Tayana. After viewing a couple boats in Bellingham, WA we were walking off the docks and Kerri spotted a 1979 Baba 35 – another Bob Perry design – which had just been put up for sale. It struck a cord with both of us so we scheduled a time to go on-board to look around as prospective buyers. After, it became our new favorite boat. The following day we decided to put in an offer on the Baba and within an hour it was accepted! With some documents signed, and a deposit placed in escrow, we were one step closer to becoming boat owners.
