How it all began

I guess you could say it began with an irrational thought.

For reasons unknown, some time in the late 1990's, I (Richard) decided that sailing was the perfect way to see the world and live out an adventure fantasy at the same time. The fact that I had never set foot in a sailboat was of little concern, although my wife (Susanne) did express some misgivings.
So, with unusual persistence, I researched the topic to death, reading magazines, browsing the internet and generally making a nuisance of myself at boat shows and yacht brokerages. Gradually I came to the conclusion that, while there was a bit more to it than I had originally thought, it was not impossible either.

I determined the best way to learn about boats was to own one, and with that in mind, I began a 5 year process of looking for the perfect boat. Each year, my knowledge was greater, my requirements more refined, and my expectations of what a dollar would buy reduced.
Meanwhile we did take some action to learn more about this sailing stuff. We both took a Basic Cruise and Learn course, and I followed this up with Coastal Navigation and Intermediate Cruising courses. We even dedicated a vacation to this endeavour, joining a flotilla charter in Greece one summer. This just confirmed to us that we could do this.

In the year 2001 we finally found the boat, and have spent the last 7 years learning to sail and adding or modifying those systems that we felt necessary before setting out on the actual adventure.
For shakedown cruises, we have explored the inside passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland from one end to the other, and completed one circumnavigation of Vancouver Island in 2006. Due to our work schedules and the fact that we live 1000 miles from the boat, our travels have had to be done in September and October which are not always the best weather conditions on the west coast of Canada. However, this should prove to be a good training ground for wherever our travels take us in the future.

What follows is the story as it picks up from the time the decision was made to actually turn this dream into reality...