Let me introduce myself..

My name is Randy, and when I started the plan to purchase my boat, I spent hours on the net, trying to glean any little bit of information. There are several great resources which I will list in the Links page, but at the time I could find no solid resource to bring my dream to fruition. Being that each cruiser is going to have different goals and requirements, no step by step guide could possibly cover everything, but a narrative of the trials and tribulations from landlubber to cruiser I felt could give others some navigable landmarks.





So a little about me...

In 2006 I had a nice house, a decent job, a new car, etc., everything I have been told I need to have a productive, fulfilling life; and in truth I was not unhappy, but I was asleep. My life was pretty much work and sleep, and putty the rest in with internet.



Things did change however in April, the business I worked for closed, and I joined the ranks of the unemployed. The day after being laid off, I broke my foot; so I had some serious time on my hands to soul search. I thought about closing in on fifty, and only twice in my life really feeling alive: traveling the world playing music, and traveling the world by sailboat. I decided to buy a boat.



It had been exactly thirty years since I had sailed in earnest. Things definitely had changed in the boating world, and not all of it for the better, and I had a lot to learn and relearn. My brother and I spent Sunday mornings 'Walking the Docks'. After a few weeks my crush on the sleek, sterile productions of the 80's and 90's moved to a healthier emotion for the older, early 70's style boats. I looked at Rawsons, and Columbias, I looked at Albergs and Bristols, some on the net, some on the dock, and I finally decided on a Pearson Triton. They were the perfect size for one, maybe two, and have a great reputation as a seaworthy blue water boat. The trouble was, Tritons were scarce in Puget Sound. I even considered having one shipped up from Los Angeles, but the cost of freight made it unpractical.



So I opened up my focus a bit more, and saw an ad for an Islander 29. I was only familiar with the mid to late 70's Islanders which were great coastal cruisers, and typically good sailing boats, but not so ideal for offshore. This Islander 29 was like no other Islander I had seen, It looked like a chubby Triton . After scouring the net I found precious little information, but what I did find gave me hope. These boats were of the vintage before hull blistering issues, and manufacturers finding out how thin of hull they could get away with. Of the three Islander 29's I was able to research, one had circumnavigated, another had become a 'Horner (rounded Cape Horn), the third one I bought.

I sold my house, and a big Dodge Truck t-boned my Neon.. I was downsizing, even if some of it was not entirely all of my own volition. I moved aboard, and started work on getting my boat seaworthy. I had originally been so optimistic to think I might leave the next year; but as my list of jobs grew and my bank account shrank, I became wiser. 2008 became the new target, and I almost made it.. almost. Now in 2009, the economy has decimated my cruising kitty, and I have so many other reasons why I can't go, but hell or high water I am! Go Cheap, Go Now!