I’ve loved boats my whole life and have always enjoyed looking at other boats, simply to observe how space is used in different designs and the different types of interior design each has. I never really had exposure to sailboats growing up; I had been on two catamarans but wasn’t on them thinking about my own boat. Starting in high school, I would catch myself drifting to boat shopping sites; looking at everything from sportfish boats to sailboats. I knew absolutely nothing about sailboats at this point but enjoyed looking.
A few years later I was home from college visiting my parents and told my parents my dream of sailing the world for the first time. I was looking at boats for fun, with no intention of buying one anytime soon; my goal was to buy it by the time I was 30, still 10 years away. My dad came in and asked a question and I remember saying one of my criteria was to find a sailboat with a shower separate from the bathroom. I can’t help but laugh looking back, this is the least of my priorities now and I don’t mind the shower also being the whole bathroom.
Working with David on his 1998 Beneteau, I learned how sturdy the older models were and I loved the layout and storage space. They make you feel at home and the open layout makes you feel like you’re in a much larger space than you actually are. I also loved the kitchen we had that took the whole length of the salon. The bedroom layout was also something I really loved. There was a perfect hatch above the master stateroom bed, giving plenty of airflow at night, and the guest bedrooms were perfect for charter guests, the only thing I wished was that both bedrooms had their own en-suite bathroom.
Starting in March 2021, I started taking my online searching for boats a little more seriously. I had no intentions of buying, but I was having fun looking at all my options; although I rarely found one that I was drawn to. There was also something about the boats that didn’t catch my eye (or my heart); it may have been the layout, a single hatch wasn’t where I wanted, an extra bedroom, or a smaller galley. These were all superficial things, but also things I could judge by simply looking at the pictures without an in-depth survey.
While in the Bahamas in July, I realized I really did want to find a boat. I did all the math to find a budget, and started searching, looking at nearly every single boat listed between my desired years, budget, and length. After only a week, I slowed down my searching. I had looked at every single commercial site and grew tired of seeing the same boats pop up. Another day would go by, and I couldn’t not search, so I found some boats for sale by owner pages. One day my dream boat popped up. I was head over heels looking at the first picture, and as I continued to scroll through I fell more in love.
Later that day I was looking at her again, looked at the contact button, click it, and felt my heart drop. I was really contacting the owners of a boat I was interested in. I was so excited and so nervous, it meant I was actually serious about buying a boat. The owners were kind and sent me all the additional pictures they had and we scheduled a phone call. The call was after we had just chased the dinghy down around the bay, and I was late for the call, but at 10:30 that night, everything the owner said made me fall more in love with this boat and we moved forward.
Fast forward one month; I finally started my blog, called insurance company after insurance company, emailed sponsors, scheduled a survey, arranged flights, scheduled haul-out dates, and went to go see my new baby, Soul de La Mar.