Come along with Scott & Ally on their boating journey in Florida!
Tag: Boating Blogs
Boating blogs are great resources for information for new and experienced boaters. Before we bought our boat, we followed many sailing, cruising and live-aboard bloggers. Most of them shared their troubles and accomplishments and really gave us insight into what to expect.
But what they didn’t do, is tell the story from the very beginning and that’s how our bloating blog “boatingjourney.com” came to life. We wanted to share how do you find a broker, a boat, moorage and what is the entire process? What things to new boaters need to know and learn before buying a boat? All of these things are very important and part of the process of owning a boat.
We also read a lot of books written by sailors and cruisers. I wanted to document our story using the blog so we would have that at our hands if we decided to write a book too. We hope you enjoy our blog among all of the other boating blogs.
Getting ready for Sea Trials, Survey & Inspection!
Tomorrow (Wednesday, February 20th ) is an exciting day for us! We made an offer on a 2002 Bayliner 4087 CPMY (cockpit motor yacht) with an aft cabin and it was accepted! Tomorrow we go to sea trials, survey & mechanical inspection. But let’s go back to how this all came about.
The boat is currently moored at Elliott Bay Marina, which is where we moored our first boat Kokomo. About a month ago, Scott found this listing and suggested we look it while we were wandering around the marina.
Paul of Elliott Bay Yacht Sales, was nice enough to show us the boat that afternoon. Honestly, we expected that we wouldn’t really like it (sounds terrible I know). But we’ve looked at many boats over the past few months and they all have either stunk or were dirty or were way over-priced. On top of that, big tall boats are a bit intimidating to us.
Scott and I jumped on board and were immediately surprised by the tricked out dinghy! I talked about that in our last blog. As we opened the door to the salon, I was not expecting much. But low and behold I was pleasantly surprised by everything. First and most important, it doesn’t stink!! This is huge for us. The galley is large with lots of storage. It has a large fridge, three burner stove AND an oven! Thinking back on how I was preparing meals for six of us in the San Juan Islands on Kokomo now, is frightening. You can actually mingle in the salon and have someone cooking in the galley. LOL The staterooms are plenty roomy too, along with the heads. Once everything is finalized, we’ll give you a full tour!
We made the plunge
Working the boat show, I just couldn’t stop thinking about that boat and neither could Scott. So we made the plunge and made an offer! Our offer was accepted about a week and half ago and we immediately scheduled the sea trials and survey. We are hauling out at Sea View Boat Yard at 10am tomorrow to have the hull inspected and we’ll be along for the trip. This will be our second boat, second sea trial and second haul out. I have to wonder if it will be totally different or much of the same?
As you know, I’m a weather nut and the forecast during the sea trial is snow with a small craft advisory! So this will certainly be a trip to remember. I feel confident it will be smooth, since we’ll have our broker, Steve Thoreson from Union Marine (where I work) with us. Steve is a certified yacht broker with over 25 years experience with yachts and he’ll also be teaching us how to operate and dock the boat too!
Be sure to stay tuned and we’ll give you a full update on the findings and where we go from here! Until next time! Cheers, Scott and Ally
Thank you for following our blog! Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube @BoatingJourney #BoatingJourney #PNWBoater
This year’s boat show was a completely different experience for Scott and I. As you all know, I joined Lake Union Sea Ray in September and my company is the largest boat dealer on the west coast. Our portfolio includes Sea Ray, Bayliner, Heyday, Boston Whaler, Lowe, Monte Carlo Yachts, Nautique and MasterCraft. Our 34,000 square foot exhibit was the largest in boat show history by any single dealer featuring over 90 boats. The setup for this show takes five days and as the Marketing Manager, I was definitely busy! The Seattle Boat Show is a nine day event at the Century Link Field Event Center and at South Lake Union.
What’s really impressive is the amount of work that goes into setting up a boat show!
Walking the show
Each year, Scott and I walk the show with a plan – we’re either looking for a boat, researching a marina or buying supplies. This year we only had a limited time to walk it, since I was working the entire time. I did take my badge off, so I wasn’t a dealer walking through other dealer’s display. Not owning a boat right now, we really don’t have a need for any supplies. But we did look at a boat a week ago and if we buy it, we’ll need a few things.
At Century Link Event Center, they have two floors of exhibits. Whether you are looking for a new toilet, anchor, electronics, charter companies or boats, you’ll find it at the Seattle Boat Show. One of my favorite vendors is NautiGirl Apparel – I buy a couple of shirts every year.
What? We looked at a boat last week?
Yes, you heard that right. We’re going back this week to take a second look with Steve Thoreson, our broker from Lake Union Sea Ray. If we feel good about it, we’ll make an offer! But more about that, next time.
Scott and I did check out a few mattress vendors and dinghys. The boat we are looking at, has a heavy duty davit system and the dinghy is stored horizontally. With a 5’ beam, that extends our LOA and slip size requirements. We thought about getting a new system to store it vertically, allowing us in a smaller slip, but it’s not really feasible. I did learn that inflatable dinghies come in two different types of materials – synthetic rubber (Hypalon or neoprene) or plastic polymers (PVC or urethane). Synthetic rubber will last much longer as it is more UV resistant than plastic polymers, but they are twice the price. One dinghy we liked from Waypoint Marine Group was the Highfield Classic 340 Hypalon, regularly $5490.
Dinghy Shopping
I also priced out dinghy motors at the Seattle Boat Show. Our old dinghy only had a 4 hp motor and you can go up to 9.9hp without having to register the boat. Turns out that a motor with an electric starter isn’t that much more than a manual starter. Either way, we’re still looking at spending at least $2000 on a motor. Why all this dinghy shopping? Because the boat we’re looking at comes with this tricked out dinghy that with the motor weighs over 700lbs! We’re a little worried about the aft weight and we’ll see how it cruises during the sea trial.
The funny thing is that this dinghy not only has a tower, but it comes with GPS, VHF and a stereo with a CD Player! Imagine what our marina neighbors will think as we cruise around! Guess we’ll wait until we cross that bridge.
South Lake Union Boats Afloat Display
After checking out a few boats at Century Link, we headed down to South Lake Union. Of course I’m a bit biased as I think we had the best display on the lake! We had six of our larger Sea Rays on the water, including our L590 Fly, 510 Sundancer, 460 Sundancer, 400 Sundancer and the 330 Sundancer.
Sea Ray L590 Yacht
One yacht that stood out, was a Sea Spirit trawler. This was a beautiful classically built boat. Every detail was thought out. The cruising range on this boat is 3800 miles! If we won the lottery, I would consider buying this beauty.
The coolest thing on this Sea Spirit was the flag feature – they have a flag for all of the major countries! If you aren’t familiar with flag etiquette, here’s a great link from our friends at S/V Totem.
It can be yours for only $17,000 per month
Okay, let’s be real. If you need to know what your monthly payment is with financing on a $3m yacht, you probably shouldn’t be spending that kind of money. We thought it was hilarious that this 75′ yacht had a price sign showing its monthly payment of only $17,000 per month! While it was nice, it was not warm and cozy to us.
Coolest feature on a Trawler!
We also checked out Sea Bear a Swift Trawler. While we are not big fans of trawlers, Sea Bear was nicely designed. In fact, it even had a dumb waiter for drinks up to the bridge!
The weather this year, was fantastic for most of the boat show! Imagine doing an on the water boat display in January in Seattle! We were so lucky to have sunny days for most of the show.
Catamarans
It was seven years ago, when Scott and I first toured a catamaran at the Seattle Boat Show. It was a 35′ Lagoon and we were hooked. Since then, we have checked out other catamarans at the Miami and the Annapolis Boat Shows. There just are not that many cats in the PNW – probably because they require such a wide slip.
This year, they had three cats at the show. The first one we toured was the Lagoon. After being on so many cats over the years, this is not our favorite anymore. The cabin/cockpit seems to shallow and small for us.
The next cat we toured was the Nautitech Open 40 which was set up as an “owner’s version”. An “owner’s version” has a full stateroom and head on one side, versus two staterooms. That’s called a “charter version”. It was fairly roomy, but again, I probably would remove the couch feature. This was our favorite cat in the show.
We finished walking the show, just as it was closing on the lake. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous over Seattle.
Stay tuned this week to see what happens with the boat we are looking at. We could be embarking on yet another boating adventure!
Thanks for following our blog! Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Below is our YouTube video of the full tour!
We might as well be tourists while living in Seattle
Seattle has so much to offer and last weekend we decided to be tourists in our own city. After checking out the waterfront, we headed to the Space Needle to see its remodel. The Space Needle underwent a major renovation last summer, removing the restaurant and replacing it with a rotating glass floor observation deck.
While waiting to get to the top, the lobby ramp tells the entire story of the Space Needle.
Since it’s not tourist season yet, we were able to get up to the observation tower in just a few minutes. You start at the very top and then move down to the floor below (where the restaurant used to be). Now they serve wine and beer, along with snacks and small bites (hot dogs, nachos, etc).
Amazing 360 degree views
It was absolutely beautiful last Sunday, so our views were amazing! Imagine if you were a tourist in Seattle seeing this for the first time!
Olympic Mountains and Elliott Bay MarinaDowntown SeattleMount Rainier in the distanceLake Union (where we live)
After a few minutes, we both got the courage to stand on the actual glass floor. The glass bottom observation deck also rotates very slowly.
If you haven’t taken a tour yet of the newly remodeled Space Needle, I highly recommend it. It was pretty awesome and a fun thing to do. Next week, the Seattle Boat Show starts on January 25th – so stay tuned for the full tour and update on our boat search. As always, thank you for following our journey! Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. @BoatingJourney #boatingjourney
On Friday, the last car drove across Seattle’s Viaduct as they get ready to close it after 66 years. The viaduct is a two level highway (99) that ran along Seattle’s waterfront – it has gorgeous views of Elliott Bay and DT Seattle, but it is also very old and wouldn’t last in a major earthquake.
A tunnel will replace the viaduct, which is set to open around mid-February after eight years of construction. There is a lot of history and politics behind the tunnel, as not everyone agreed with replacing the viaduct with a toll tunnel that offers less lanes. Read more about there here.
Exploring Seattle’s Waterfront
The weather was gorgeous this weekend, with record temps reaching almost 60 degrees. So Scott and I decided to head down to Seattle’s waterfront to get some exercise, soak up some sun near the water and see what the viaduct looks like now.
The first thing we noticed, was how QUIET the waterfront is now that there are not thousands of cars driving on the viaduct. The scenery was beautiful as we walked from pier to pier. One thing we miss the most about not owning the boat anymore, is spending time on Elliott Bay.
Wings over Washington
There are two attractions on Pier 57, Wings of Washington and the Great Wheel.
I’m terrified of heights, so I have no desire to ever go on the Great Wheel. But we did decide to check out Wings of Washington. It was very cool, but not for the faint of heart. You are strapped in and then the seats go up into the air and you experience an aerial adventure over Washington State. It lasts about 10 minutes, which is about all I could handle!
From there, we walked up to Pike Place Market to see what the viaduct looked like from above.
It really is surreal to have no cars flying by. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. One thing Scott and I love about living in DT Seattle, is being a tourist for the day. We truly live in one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Tomorrow we’re planning on spending the day on Lake Union, so stay tuned! Thank you for following us. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter too @BoatingJourney
Hard to believe that we are already one week into 2019! We hope you all had a wonderful New Year. In looking back at all of the things we did last year, Scott and I are looking forward to more fun to come in 2019.
We rang in the New Year with family and friends at our apartment, with yet another great firework’s show on the rooftop. Unlike the July 4th celebration, it wasn’t as crowded, but it was icy and cold! The morning started out with angry skies and soon, the entire city was engulfed in fog.
Every year, we celebrate the new year with our fondue party and casino night. It has always been a small gathering, so moving into a small apartment didn’t have much affect on our party.
Rooftop Fireworks
Scott and I purposely selected this apartment building for the views from the rooftop. Last summer we enjoyed watching the boats on Lake Union every night over a glass of wine. The July 4th fireworks are set off from a barge in the middle of the lake.
We were shocked to see, how many boats were on the lake for NYE!
The Space Needle is southwest from our building, but we still have a great view from our rooftop.
For those of you who don’t know, the Space Needle had a major remodel this year and so they planned a huge fireworks show. Having never seen the show in person before, we were not sure what to expect. The show certainly did not disappoint! It could have been longer, but it was still pretty cool!
What’s in store for 2019?
This should be a very busy year for Scott and I. We’re starting the year with the Seattle Boat Show – this will be my 21st year attending and my first year working! This is a crazy time for boat dealers, as we work long hours everyday leading up to the show and after.
Then we head to the Caribbean on March 7th for our first ever cruise. This is not your typical cruise, as it only has 170 people and we’re sailing on a tall ship.
Star Flyer of Star Clippers
Our annual trip to the Anacortes Boat Show is in May – again, I’ll be working. This will be the theme for the rest of our summer as I attend our monthly boating rendezvous events. Are we shopping for a boat? Yes, but it has to be exactly what we are looking for and that, we are still trying to figure out. So stay tuned! Thank you for following our blog. Our next big update will be a tour of the Seattle Boat Show.
Happy New Year! Scott and Ally
Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @BoatingJourney #BoatingJourney
They say time flies as you get older and 2018 flew by for us. Sadly, we started the year, by saying goodbye to Mac on January 18th – the same day my dad died in 2002. We have been through some tragic times and I have to say that this was one of the most difficult things Scott and I have dealt with. Mac really made an impact on so many people.
This was just the start of the changes we would experience in 2018. Next, we began the hunt for an apartment in the city and purging our belongings. It’s one thing to “talk about your plans”, but it’s another thing when it actually happens! As we were selling our house, we were also hauling out our boat for the first time. What an experience that was!
City Folk
Scott and I have been talking for years about downsizing and living on a boat. Finally, 2018 was a our year to make the move! And what a crazy time this was for us. I was interviewing, we were working on the boat and the house and preparing to move, all at the same time! When it finally all came to fruition, it was a bit surreal, but we were ecstatic. We love our new digs!
With all of our activities living in the city and traveling this summer, Scott and I didn’t get a chance to go on as many boating trips as we would have liked. Living in the city, we took advantage of the sights nearby. Soon after we moved in, we took our annual trip to the Anacortes Boat Show with our good friends Nick and Michelle. This is smaller, intimate boat show and a fun getaway.
2018 Boating Season
Scott and I did start boating season on a trip to Poulsbo in June with our good friends Ben & Maria and what a start it was! We had historical record tides and 22 knot winds. Yet, we made it through Agate Pass and at the marina (yet a bit banged up.)
One of the perks of living in our new apartment, is the view of Lake Union – especially on July 4th! Though we owned a boat, we had no desire to join the mayhem of the lake party. Honestly, I can’t imagine being around that many boats at one time! LOL
Where else did we travel to?
As summer was underway, Scott and I planned a couple more trips. Next was Gig Harbor and this time we stayed at Arabella’s Landing. This is such a nice and easy trip from Seattle and there’s so much to do in Gig Harbor!
We squeezed in another trip to Kingston this summer and traveled with some of our great friends, Randy, Cory, Stacy, Ben and Maria! Kingston offers concerts on the lawn at the marina, so it’s always a great time!
Once we returned from Kingston, we put Kokomo up for sale. We had only planned on owning the boat for one summer, as we prep for moving onto our live-aboard. Over Labor Day Weekend, we went through the locks one more time and enjoyed Lake Washington before we said goodbye to Kokomo.
Going under the Montlake Bridge
Of course, this was right after we broke down in our marina! LOL That’s a funny story in itself. Why? Well, because I had just joined Lake Union Sea Ray and I called them to go diagnose the issue. Find out what happened here.
Good Bye to Kokomo, Friends and Elliott Bay Marina
Within a few weeks of listing Kokomo, we got an offer from a really nice couple. Now was time to say goodbye to not only the boat, but all of our friends at Elliott Bay Marina. It’s funny how close you all can become in just a matter of a year. We know we’ll be back soon, but it was still a pretty emotional day for us.
Olympic Mountains
As the year comes to end, Scott and I are thankful for all of the great memories we had on Kokomo. We are continuing to look for our liveaboard and more importantly, a slip that will hold a 50’+ boat. In the meantime, I am loving my new job at Union Marine and gearing up for the Seattle Boat Show in January. Then we are headed to the Caribbean on a 7 day cruise through the Leeward Islands on the tall ship Star Flyer with our good friends Ben and Maria in March! We can’t wait.
Just this week, we learned that our blog has been selected by Feedspot as one of the Top 20 Boat Blogs on the web. How cool is that!
Keep following us for new updates in the New Year! Thank you for all of your support this year and we look forward to sharing our journey with you. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Cheers, Scott and Ally
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter @BoatingJourney #boatingjourney
Since selling our boat in September, Scott and I wanted to give you all an update on our boating life. This will actually be one of the shortest blogs I have ever written, as we shared our update on our YouTube channel (see below).
Here are the facts:
Our lease on our new apartment (which we rented only temporarily) expires April 30th.
The plan has always been to move onto a 50-55′ liveaboard when our lease is up.
Now we are struggling to find moorage for not only a 50’+ boat, but a marina that will accept liveaboards.
Financing – here’s the weird part. Banks will not loan you money for a liveaboard, only for a pleasure craft. Obviously, we can afford a $250,000 boat, as it would be less than our rent, but we can’t tell the banks that.
So where do we go from here?
Well, my life will be (and is) completely consumed by work (Lake Union Sea Ray) as we get ready for the largest boat show on the west coast (Seattle Boat Show) in January. Then Scott and I leave in March for our sailing trip through the Leeward Islands in March. So between now and April, we have to figure out what we are doing. I guess that’s the fun part of being a bit of a nomad.
We no longer have pets, our cars are paid for and we live a pretty simple life. So whatever we decide to do, it will work out just fine.
Scott and I are keeping our eyes open for liveaboards as we move into the new year. In fact, one of my yacht broker’s at work suggested we look for a 2003 Sea Ray 480 Motor Yacht. This is an awesome boat, but the closest one is in San Diego!
So if you know anyone who has this boat for sale in the PNW, please let us know! In the meantime, we are calling all of the local marinas to find out if they have liveaboard space. Please keep your eyes open for moorage too!
Be sure to follow our YouTube channel and all of our social media channels for future updates! Cheers, Scott Ally
Last weekend Scott and I wanted to get out and enjoy Fall, so we headed to Snow Lake Trail at Alpental on Snoqualmie Pass. It is about a forty-five minute drive from Seattle and the scenery was beautiful!
To get to the trail head, simply follow the signs to Alpental ski area. We arrived about 10:30am and the parking lot was packed!
There were some serious hikers in the lot, with their walking poles and gear. Only wearing tennis shoes and sweats, I got a bit worried. The hike is about 7.2 miles round trip with about 1100 feet elevation. As soon as you leave the parking lot, you start inclining right away.
Note the switchbacks towards the end of the trail – they are many of them and it’s a hike up!
A moderate hike
That was the description on the Washington Trails Association website. The trail starts out with a mild incline through the woods.
Because we have had such a dry summer, the trail was pretty clean. However, if we had any amount of rain the day before, the trails would have been really muddy.
I will say there were a lot of dogs and elderly people on the trail, but it was extremely rocky and I wouldn’t recommend it for either. Soon after you begin your ascent through the wooded part of the trail, the trail turns pretty rocky. You really have to watch your step, so you don’t twist an ankle.
But the vistas are gorgeous has you ascend up the mountain.
How long does the hike take?
The hike took us about two and half hours to get to the top and two hours to get down. We hike slow, so you could trim some time off of that.
Just as you approach the summit, you will come across some stairs.
These lead to the summit and rocks overlooking Snow Lake.
The guide says the trip is 7.2 miles round trip, but my Fitbit only said 6.3 miles. We think this is because the trail continued down to the lake. It would have been great to go see it, but that would have meant we would have to come back up!
We got to the top, now we have to get back down
While the views and vistas were amazing, the hike itself wasn’t that relaxing. The trail is so rocky that you really needed to watch every step you took, as to not twist an ankle.
At the end of the day, it was a fun hike. Just be sure to wear comfortable shoes and honestly, walking sticks would be smart too. Below is Episode #24 with our full tour.
If you are new to our blog, you are probably wondering why we are talking about hiking when this is a boating blog. Well, a month ago we sold our boat and now we are taking the winter off. We’ll start shopping for our next boat come February. In the meantime, we’re exploring sights around Seattle and the PNW.
Please be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. #BoatingJourney @BoatingJourney
When Scott and I moved to Downtown Seattle, we knew that we would be exploring the city and we’ve been amazed at how many things there are to see around Lake Union.
Our apartment is on Dexter Avenue and we face east. Directly across from us is St. James Cathedral and above it, is Volunteer Park. Neither of us have ever been to the park, so we decided to explore it.
Volunteer Park
Volunteer Park is a 48 acre park that includes a conservatory and the Asian Art Museum. The history of the park is fascinating and told by different placards in the water tower observation deck. In 1885 the city had planned to make it a cemetery, but that was overruled and it became Lake View Park. By 1909 the Olmstead brothers began adding improvements including gardens, a children’s pool and a performance stage. The Olmstead brothers were dedicated nature and creating parks throughout the city. It’s pretty cool that they were so committed about nature and ecology back in the 1900’s.
There is plenty of parking inside the park and there are walkways throughout. We parked and headed towards the Asian Art Museum. Unfortunately it is closed for renovation and will open next summer.
The photo above is actually the children’s wading pool. I wouldn’t recommend using it today. Scott and I then headed towards the Water Tower Observatory. The water tower is reportedly haunted and I will tell you, this is the last place I would want to be at dusk or at night!
There are stairs that take you up both sides and it’s a climb!
What’s really cool about this water tower is that not only is it still being used today, but that they enclosed it in brick to make it look better! That’s a lot of work just for a water tower. Remember what our water tower looked like in our driveway of the house we just sold? LOL
History of Seattle Parks
Once you get to the observation deck of the water town, you have a 360 degree view from Bellevue to Seattle. You can also read about the history of the planned parks in Seattle by the Olmstead brothers.
The statement above is so true!! It’s one of the reasons we love living in the Pacific Northwest.
From the water tower observatory, we walked the grounds to enjoy some fall scenery.
The conservatory was closed, so we didn’t get to go inside. Right outside the conservatory, is a statue dedicated to Henry Seward – who knew his importance to Seattle? So fun!
If you haven’t visited Volunteer Park, I highly recommend it for a fun afternoon!
Borealis Light Festival
The following weekend, MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry) hosted the Borealis Light Festival. This was an international contest and it was one of the coolest things we’ve seen in a long time! It’s too bad it wasn’t here longer. We tried to capture as much footage as we could, which you can watch on our next YouTube episode.
Stay tuned for our next blog and we’ll update you on our boat search and hopefully our plans for the Spring! As always, thank you for following us! Be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
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
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The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
The statement above is so true!! It’s one of the reasons we love living in the Pacific Northwest.
