No Boat, What now?

The big question – No Boat, so What Now?

Since selling the boat two weeks ago, everyone keeps asking us, “no boat, so what now?” We wish we had a definitive answer, but we don’t. What we can tell you is, we are trying to figure that out and hope that soon we’ll have an answer.

If you recall two years ago, Scott and I were at the Annapolis Power Boat Show, looking for a liveaboard. After the show, we decided it would be in our best interest to buy a weekend cruising boat first to make sure we like spending time on a boat. As we began our search back then, we realized that finding a slip was an issue. Luckily, we were able to secure one at Elliott Bay Marina, a month before we had found our boat.

Fast Forward to Today

When Scott and I sold our boat, we were given lots of advice on what to buy next.  Remember, we sold our home with the intention of moving onto a 50-55′ boat. That’s why our lease in our new apartment is only for one year (with only 7 months left).  Wow, we’re right on track, so let’s start shopping! Not so fast……..

Turns out that plan has a HUGE hiccup in it.  We have checked with our own marina and all of the other main public marinas in Seattle and all of them have a 3-5 year waitlist for boats over 50 feet! Guess we didn’t think about that, even though we kept hearing “you better get on a list”.  On top of all of this, we love Elliott Bay Marina and we don’t want to leave, but they also don’t allow liveaboards.  Great, now what, you ask?  Just for kicks and giggles, we asked about the availability for 40′ and 46′ slips at Elliott Bay. Those are 3-4 months on a waitlist. Just to be safe, we are on the waitlist for those.

Basically, we have three options.

• We can buy a 37 – 43′ boat and keep our apartment for another year. But that wasn’t originally in our budget or plan.
• We can hope that we find a liveaboard that comes with a slip already.
• We don’t buy anything

The last option sounds so drastic and not part of any of our original plans. However, one thing Scott and I have agreed upon and that is “we will not buy a boat simply to get a slip in our marina”. If we find the right boat and we feel really great about it, then we’ll know it was meant to be.  So we are searching every day and of course, with me working at Lake Union Sea Ray, everyone there knows I’m searching for a boat too.

So no boating journey?

Of course not! Remember, this blog started in 2013 long before we had a boat. Scott and I are committed to staying very active on the water some how or another. This includes kayaking, sailing on Lake Union, chartering a boat to the islands, canoeing, you name it.

We’ll also continue to share tips, videos, books, recipes and vacation information along the way.

Exciting Sailing Trip in the Caribbean!

Just this weekend Scott and I booked an exciting trip in the Caribbean. We have never been on a cruise (and have no desire to either), but we have heard wonderful things about Windstar and Star Clipper.  There are many charter companies in the Caribbean and we’ve talked about finally signing up (but that seems risky not knowing the other four passengers). So we opted to go the larger group route!

We booked an 8 night Leeward Island Cruise for next March and we used our BoatUS membership for a discount! The vessel, Star Flyer, is 360′ long with a 50′ beam.  Unlike a formal cruise ship that typically has thousands of guests, this vessel only holds 170 passengers with 72 crew. It also doesn’t have fancy restaurants, casinos or theaters. Instead, it is set up as a casual sailing experience in a more intimate setting. 

The itinerary will visit the Leeward Islands (funny, our apartment complex is called Leeward) and the only island we have visited before is Antigua.

Once we get more information about the trip, we’ll be sure to share that with you. I’m a bit nervous about getting sea sick, as there will be a lot of movement up and down on the boat (especially our room, as it is up front). The booking agent recommended that we take Bonine  as it works much better than Dramamine. Guess we’ll find out!

In our next YouTube episode, we’ll sit down with you all and talk more about our plans and what we have on our agenda.

Thank you for following us! Please be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel and also follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Until next time!  Cheers, Scott and Ally

#BoatingJourney