Once apon a time, we had a dream of cruising the Caribbean in our own Catamaran boat. Then we met David and his boat Jimmy's Bliss. He was looking for a couple to help him sail his 52 ft Catana Catamaran and we fit the bill. So we all met together in Kauai and decided to cruise together in the Western Caribbean for 5 months- Jan to May 2014. Well it all happened fast and it was exciting to see our dream going in the right direction. So I retired from working at the hospital after 34 years and jumped on board Jimmy's Bliss for an adventure. The first couple of weeks on the boat were a bit of a reality check; with all the work that has to be done to prepare a boat to sail. 3 days of provisioning for meals that would last 3 months in the San Blas Islands with no grocery stores. But finally the day came when we left the docks for far away places. The San Blas Islands are located just off Panama and are inhabited by local indians called Kuna Yala. It was like going back in time: the people here lived off the land; fishing and living in huts right on the beach. They all owned their owe coconut trees and worked together to manage the coconut crops. It was very interesting learning about their people and traditions. The islands were very well maintained by the Kuna Yala people. The waters were gorgeous; clear blue trouquise and full of fish. While in the San Blas Islands we all seemed to get along fairly well, with some up's and down's due to control issues on the boat. But we tried very hard to work out the kinks because we all had the same goal of finishing the season and seeing a lot of great places. However, as time went on things began to go wrong with the boat; first it was the batteries, then generator, alternator, etc. I am still not sure exactly what the root of the problems were other then they all seemed to be connected to the electronic system. The boat did have a history of having gone thru a lightening strike, maybe that had something to do with in. Anyway, as the boat issues got worst so did morale. After staying at the marina for several weeks trying to get the boat repaired, we decided to go on a 3 days journey to Panama City while the boat was being worked on. But while we were gone David sent us an email saying that he felt in was time to say Aloha. He was very frustrated with the boat repairs and did not want to commit to having any of our family members visit, which was previously arranged. So Aloha it was, sad to say goodbye, but it was time to move on.
After leaving Jimmy's Bliss in Panama, we decided to take some time off to recoup and visit some of the places we were planning to go to on the boat. So we flew to Cancun and Cozumel for a couple of weeks of relaxation and recuperation. And then we decided to stop in Tampa on the way home to see a boat we liked, "Sail La Vie".
We loved her at first sight and new it was meant to be, but we left it up to God to make the decision for us. We prayed that God would make it clear to us whether we should buy this boat. For instance, the finances had to come together easily, the transferring of the boat from the BVI company had to happen without a lot of hassle and the boat needed to pass it's inspection. And yes all of these things did happen, the boat not only passed it's inspection, the inspector could not even find anything wrong with it. And so, God made it happen and we are now owners of our own beautiful 41 ft Catamaran.
We plan to sail it in Florida for the next couple of seasons and then move on down the road to the Bahamas and eventually the Caribbean. So that is the basic story of how we got our new boat "Sail La Vie". Next stop Key West for a week with our friends then back to our home port at the Pasadena Yacht Club. It is a rough life but someone has to do it. The season will be over for us on May 16th, 2015 and then back home to Carlsbad, California we will go until next year's adventure will begin.
Sail La Vie or C'est La Vie, such is life...
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