Sailing San San

Okay since the word is out we have made the switch, well quite a few of them actually!

We are now @ Gmail MVFelicity at Gmail.com Shoot us an email we’d love to hear from you!

We Tweet @ MVFelicity and our Facebook is here!

The new blog is like an experiment. We are doing a major re-fit while living aboard and are trying to document the differences between power and sail. Check us out for daily updates at MVFelicity.Blogspot.com. Don’t be shy, log on as a follower or leave comments! Your support helps our sponsors see that we are as popular as we say we are.

We thank you all for following our journeys and want you to know how excited we are to share this new path with you! We have BIG plans!

Love and Hugs,

GR, Jessica & Gia

xoxo

It’s been a long week of looking high and low through the tree lined back roads along the Inter-coastal Waterway of North & South Carolina but we finally made a decision, and BOUGHT A BOAT!

We are proud to introduce our new girl, Felicity!

Felicity

Many of you may be saying, “Wait a minute, isn’t that boat missing something, like a mast?“

It’s true this is a power boat, but not just any power boat;  it’s a classic, motor-yacht! The highly sought after 1968 50′ Hatteras! She has got 3 cabins and 3 heads, more than enough room for guests. When are you going to come visit??

We are SUUUUPER excited about the next phase. Of course like every boat, she needs work, but this part, the very beginning stages of a re-fit is our MOST favorite part! We already have lists upon lists of supplies we need and projects to tackle before we will get underway.

She’s tied up at the dock here at Ocean Isle Marina in Ocean Isle, North Carolina, right on the North Carolina South Carolina border. The marina staff here have been great and the town is quintessential down home southern charm!

We are working on a new blog as well as new pages and social media profiles so stay tuned for more!

(By the way, I can’t stop dancing around the salon singing this… “I’m on a boat!”)

We have a gypsy nature, both GR and I. We noticed it very early on in our relationship when we both started dreaming and scheming about our future together. We talked about driving cross country on bicycles, motor cycles, and RV’s. We talked about building and living in a yurt in some po-dunk town where we could start a big garden and eat organic fresh grown veggies and herbs! I used to think that to be at home one had to have a house, but living on boats has shown me that living on a boat can be a totally permanent situation.

For years before I met him GR had been going back and forth from living in a house to a boat and vice versa. His pattern was typical, every few years after he had settled into a house, he’d get the “bug” and buy a boat. He would work on it for a while, sail around a bit and then sell it to start all over again. There are times when living permanently on board I have gotten a little house envy, if you will. Walking through a Bed, Bath & Beyond or Pier 1 always left me longing for a house to decorate. We talked about the possibility and have completely ruled it out. Neither of us have any interest in being locked into a house, attached to land. We love the ability to move when we please, but we needed more room. We sold San San in order to gain, comfort, room and something different.

We have looked around, high and low. We’ve considered everything, all types of boats.

Still we wanted something different….

What if...

Delta Surprised Us!

I just have to rave about how awesome our trip was Wednesday. With so many things that could have gone wrong our slight anxiety was wiped away time after time.  From the Rio Dulce, the Guatemala City airport is a 5 hour drive. We timed our arrival exactly 3 hours early in order to have plenty of time to check our 7 pieces of luggage and two kitties. Although we’ve heard horror stories of accidents and roadblocks we went along without a hitch! We arrived on time We wiped our brows, whew!

As we approached the check in counter I noticed it was completely empty. We were greeted by a pleasant airline employee and were told exactly what our charges would be before we handed over our precious plastic “magic” card! Overall, we each had 2 bags, plus 1 extra. Each second bag was $40 and the extra one was $150, really NOT that bad, considering it’s all we have left you know! The kitties were cleared to ride together in the larger carrier which ended up saving us $224. Bonus!! We leisurely moved to the inspection of our carry-on items and our body scan. Here we were once again treated with respect and patience, the only thing I lost to the travel police was my new knitting needles and a couple pairs of tweezers that I totally forgot were even in that bag!

Our plane arrived on time and we were so happy everything was falling into place we practically skipped onto the Delta 757. This leads me to my next rave session. The last time we flew we took Spirit airlines and made jokes about how terrible the seats and service were. Granted we paid a third of the cost roughly $90 one way from GUA to MIA. I cannot remember the last time I took a flight that wasn’t on with a budget company like Spirit.  Our tickets with Delta were one way from GUA to ATL and cost about $400. EEEK! Yet, we had the most fun on this flight than I can EVER remember on a flight since I was Gia’s age! Every seat was leather and came with a blanket. (We didn’t even have to ask!) As we got buckled in we were handed headphones so that we could take full advantage of the TV that was in each headrest! We got to playing around with the touch screen and watched a Stand-Up Comedy show, The Smurfs (old school style) and played games like Zuma, Bookworm and Galactica!

When it came time to pass out our complimentary drinks we were also given not one bag of peanuts, but 3 bags of snacks; one pretzels, one 2-pack of gingerbread cookies and one lightly salted (not stale) peanuts! SCORE! It’s totally the little things! Best of all the time flew by. The flight is 3 hours from Guatemala to Atlanta and why shouldn’t it be fun AND comfortable! We landed smoothly right on time in Atlanta and were a bit nervous once again about the customs situation.

We did the luggage carousel shuffle and managed to get all our bags loaded onto some carts and moved into the agriculture clearance station rather quickly. We showed the officer our paperwork for the cats (rabies certificate) and were sent on our way, once again with a smile! We were corralled into the next section where we would re-check our bags. All we had to do was drive them over to these bag boys and walk away with our carry ons!

Once we made it through the bag & body scan we got into our departure gate. We grabbed some dinner at our FAVORITE quick pizza joint, Pizza Hut! The cats finally got a small drink of water and few morsels of food as well. These girls are such good travellers, they did not make a peep, or a meow. I was really thrilled with the way they were handling all the commotion. Of course, they were loving all the people watching and everyone wanted to say hello.

We made it our destination pretty late but wee so excited we barely made it to bed by 2 am! Soooo not like us! I know that today will be busy looking at a couple boats, making lists, driving around and sea trials! Keep your fingers crossed that everything else just falls into place. It’s so exciting to have no idea what is next for us! We are glad we have you all to share it with!

Love – GR, Jess, Gia, Caico & Provo!

Top 5 places for a Kick A** Meal!

1. Bruno’s – “Pork Fried Tenderloin” This is one just like Mama used to make, deep fried and smothered in gravy, served up with mashed potatoes and salad. With their brand new kitchen they are serving up some of the most unique dishes on the river. Be sure to try the Surf & Turf on Fridays as well!

2. Sun Dog – “Pizza” Tom, the owner, is a Swiss guy who fell in love with the area and decided to open up a cool, laid back joint for people to get some good eats on the cheap. He bakes bread, and makes a killer pizza using a Kiln, that he constructed himself! A whole Pizza is 80Q and Onion & Garlic come FREE!! Sweet!

3. Cayuco Club @ Mario’s Marina – “All You Can Eat – Taco Bar” When I hear all you can eat, I’m pretty excited, because everyone knows this girl can put it down! Down the hatch that is! On Wednesday night, walk down the aisle of steaming hot fresh tortillas, your choice corn or flour, Ground Beef, Chicken, Rice and Beans and ALL the toppings; sour cream, guacamole, pica de gallo and cheese! Don’t forget the taquitos, little fried flour tortillas filled with beef.

4. Mar Marine – “Dinner & a Movie!” What could be better than a delicious meal? Why one served up while watching a newly released film of course! Mar Marine calls out the Especial Del Dia and the Name of the film they will play and they just recently started playing a double feature! So you get 2 movies for the price of one! Listen to the Cruiser’s Net to find out the movie and the special!

5. Hotel Backpackers – “Shrimp Curry” What a special treat from the mundane plate of rice and beans that we grow accustomed to here in Guatemala. When I got to Hotel Backpackers I not only get a delicious meal for me and my family I feel good about helping out the children of Casa Guatemala. This restaurant is constantly pumping out delicious mariscos, authentic native seafood dishes! Check them out for you and for them!

When you get to Rio there are plenty of local people selling authentic typical foods on the main street in Fronteras and they should not be passed by. I must say that I have never been sick from eating food from a side street vendor. This particular review of the restaurants of Rio Dulce was more geared to a FULL plate of food, something people from the States are more accustomed to rather than the smaller portions associated with Central American style eating. These are solely my opinion but I hope you give them a try!

*This list is completely based on my opinion, no one told me to write this or to plug them specifically.

Listen I am no salesman, no yacht broker and I’m definitely no expert but several readers have emailed with questions on how we sold our boat so fast. She sold in 3 months. This is not the first time we sold a boat “By Owner”. Our last boat, a 424 Pearson, was sold using our same method.  It sold really fast, we were still sailing her home from Bahamas while the buyer was emailing us his flight reservations before we hit the dock in Miami. What is the method you ask? Well, get out your pens and pencils boy and girls, here are 5 tips for selling your boat yourself.

Creating Your Own Boat For Sale Ad

• First, gather up all your materials. This means get the specs, write up a blurb about the boat and take photos. You may even be able to locate a line drawing on-line which makes for a better ad. The more information the better, this will weed out any unnecessary emails with questions like, “What’s her draft, Captain?” If the draft and other specs are clearly shown you can essentially sell the boat in a one time visit to your ad. Give contact information and list the price.

• Taking photos. Take your time with photos. Set a whole day aside just to take pictures. Remove everything from the area to be photographed. Make your boat as clean as possible. For instance, if you are taking a photo of the salon clear the area of books, clothes and any other items that hinder the view of the boat itself. I cannot stress the importance of this step enough. There is nothing worse than shopping for a boat and trying to decipher what you are looking at. “Is that the galley, or a workshop?” Show some photos of the boat under sail. Give the impression that the boat is not just one that sits at the dock. Really show them what she can do! Taking quality photos is like allowing potential buyers a visit to your boat without the hassle travel expenses on either party.

• Create an online presence. If you haven’t noticed by now the way to reach people is on the World Wide Web. With all the free blog hosting sites you can take your pick and create a smashing presentation using the latest technology. You no longer have to be a computer whizz to do this stuff, it’s basically Cut & Paste with a little bit of know-how. The main thing you want is to be able to track your stats. Get a stat counter or a blog that has stats built in. This will help you figure out where your audience is coming from. Once you have picked out a host (site) began uploading your photos and creating a bit of verbiage (some words to describe) to the reader/potential buyer what in fact they are seeing, what’s it like upon entering the companionway, etc.

• Give contact information. Give an email address or a phone number or both.  Answer your leads quickly and thoroughly answering all their questions. I really have to say this too, be polite. I can’t tell you how many times we have emailed about a boat and gotten short one or two word responses. All I have to say about that is, “You catch more flies with honey.” Allow your reader to see the boat in action, if you have a current blog give the web address. This shows the potential buyer that the boat is being used. It’s not just sitting, being neglected; it’s being run and maintained.

• Once you have an ad you can be proud of bring it to the people! There are so many free outlets to show off your ad it’s laughable. Go to any forum and there is a Free Classified Ad section. Give a little bit of information, just a taste and then direct them to your site by putting your link in it. A lot of people don’t want to Cut & Paste, the want to just click on a link.Craigslist.com, Searfaring.com, & CruisersForum.com are just some of the sites that worked for us.

Selling your boat can be one of the biggest pains in boat ownership that one has to deal with; which is why some people like the professional service a yacht broker can provide.  Using these tips, check out the listings of the yacht broker you might select and see if all your questions are answered. How do the pictures look? What is the first impression you get? Is it one you would want people to get when they look at your boat? Be careful and be wise. Hopefully, these tips will help you in your search for a new boat, and in the sale of your old boat. If you’d like more information on how to sell your boat or help on how to create your By Owner Blog contact me. JessicaLGeffen@GMail.com

The Nav Station

Well, today will be the last time I say that for a little while! I am the Saturday morning Cruiser’s Net host and today will be my last broadcast. Not for long though as we definitely plan to come back here. After the announcement of the sale of San San we had tons of people emailing with congratulations and support for our next endeavour. Thank you so much! We have enjoyed sharing our lives and our plans with you all.

After answering several emails more was brought to my attention about all the new things we are experiencing! With the sale of our boat, there are many “last’s” to think about.

The last time I’ll sleep on the boat.

The last time I cook on the boat.

The last time I’ll sail the boat.

And finally, the last time I will see the boat.

But there are also lots of “first’s’ coming up, which is really exciting!

The first time our cats are flying on a plane.

The first time we have been boatless and homeless (at the same time)!

We fly out on Wednesday, October 26th and head to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where we will rent a car and begin the “real” search for our next adventure!