Inspirations and Oversights

Not too long after this notion of sailing away started, I ran across a blog about a couple from Canada with no sailing experience who learned to sail, bought a catamaran, and went cruising down the eastern coast of North America and off through the Caribbean.  Since this was our intention, it definitely got my attention.  When I first found their blog I went back to their first post and began reading. I continue to follow them today.

I have found them to be an inspiration in our quest to throw off the dock lines of our land-based life and sail along a different path.  I could have sworn I had mentioned them in a post or two (other than just my research page), but after a quick review of my past entries, I couldn't find one.  So I will correct that oversight now.

Zero To Cruising is exactly as their blog name indicates.  Mike and Rebecca went from complete sailing newbies to seasoned cruisers.  They are an excellent resource for those interested in cruising as well as those who just want to see what it might be like, both good and bad, to live on a sailboat in the Caribbean.

Why am I bringing this up now?  Well, I had always hoped we might eventually run into them in some anchorage in the Caribbean and swap stories over sundowners.  I would have never thought that we would end up meeting them before we had a boat and certainly not in Colorado.  But that is exactly what happened.  This past weekend we got the chance to hang out with them and a few other of their blog readers at an open house.

Wondering why a couple cruising the Caribbean ended up finding their way to Colorado?  Well, after about three years of cruising on their PDQ 32, they are embarking on a new adventure as the crew for a Leopard 4600 charter sailboat in the Caribbean.  The soon to be owner of that catamaran is right here in Colorado and so Mike and Rebecca are here with the owner making plans and preparing to take possession of the boat.

Having read pretty much every entry on their blog, it seemed that Mike and Rebecca were a pretty cool, down to earth couple.  Getting to meet them in person only confirmed that fact. I can definitely see why the owner of the Leopard wants them to be the charter crew for his boat.  Between the nice layout of the Leopard and the obvious dedication and very personable nature of Mike and Rebecca, I would imagine that anyone chartering this boat and her crew for a vacation would have an absolutely wonderful time.

We had a great time talking about sailing and plans and other topics with everyone who was there.  We were also treated to something that the owner, Mike and Rebecca are intending to do occasionally on their charter...they made ice cream (imagine how great it would be to be on vacation in the Caribbean, sitting on a boat, watching the sun set with some home-made ice cream). The open house was a lot of fun and I'd like to thank Mike, Rebecca, Michael and Julie (the new catamaran owners and hosts) as well as everyone who attended...we had a great time.

UPDATE: The charter boat's web site is now live (still a work in progress as of 7/30/2013). You can find it here: One Love Catamaran Charters

UPDATE 2: I'm not crazy...just forgetful.  I did write a post about Zero To Cruising almost a year ago.