Boat Survey and Paperwork Delays

Hauled out for repairs.

I had started to write about the survey process prior to moving aboard and then time just got away from me. Read a few previous posts and you can see what was occupying my time.

This first part is about our experience buying RoundAbout (Laura Ann)  in the BVI.

The survey: A boat survey usually takes 1 day, maybe 2 days, tops. The entire process involves the marine surveyor inspecting every inch of the boat, both in and out of the water. It includes the in-water portion of the survey, the sea trial, and haul-out for the dry dock inspection. The haul-out involves a power washing of the bottom and drying time. It is really important, as the surveyor can take moisture readings in the hull (something you don’t want to find at all) and it allows for a more thorough inspection of boat’s bottom systems and all other areas that are below the water line.

Geoff hard at work. Jared and Clive in the background.

We arrived for the survey mid-morning and our surveyor, Geoff, was already hard at work. We let him be, so he could concentrate. Upon this first part of the survey, it was discovered that the port engine had an oil leak and ended up needing to be removed from the boat for a complete overhaul due to finding further issues. This meant that after the first part of the survey was completed, they would haul the boat out, remove the engine, and then get to work on the remainder of the phase-out process. This was beneficial to us, as we would not incur the haul-out fees the buyer is normally responsible for.  It also meant that our survey would be stretched out over a week’s time, rather than 2 days.

The engine took awhile to repair and the sea trial ended up taking place about a month after the initial survey date. Not as neat and tidy as most surveys usually are. We were traveling across the US at this time, so Clive and Geoff went along with a few other company employees for the trial. We received a good report and we set a date to take ownership in a few weeks when the phase-out had been completed (there was a list of items that needed attention based off the survey report).

After we arrived on August 30th, we walked through the boat and took acceptance. The charter company was great in that if we were to find anything in the next few days that needed attention, to just let them know and they would take care of it. We didn’t find much beyond a couple of wobbly shelves, a corroded power cord, and some missing inventory items. They took care of these things the following day. We went on our merry way out of their marina and in to our slip at Nanny Cay. We mostly worked on hurricane prep though, and didn’t have time to enjoy our new home. A few days later, we were evacuating off the island as Irma (and later Maria) was heading our way.

Buying RoundAbout2.0 in Europe

Finding a surveyor: This time around was a bit more challenging. In the Caribbean, Clive knew our surveyor, Geoff, and he also came highly recommended by a lot of sailors we talked to.
In this case, we had to find one on our own. We did not know anyone who knew of a surveyor in Turkey. By this time, you probably know that Stef has mad skills when it comes to research. She can find out about anything and everything online, and so, she set about to the task of finding a surveyor. The one we chose had a lot of positive reviews on the forums and facebook groups we belong to, had a website, and was also on the list our broker came up with. After a few conversations via email, we hired him to conduct an initial survey on October 18th, so we could see what we were getting into with this new boat. We received a nice lengthy report with lots of photos. We appreciated his attention to detail and professionalism. After reviewing this report a few days later, we decided to move forward with the in-depth survey.

The survey:  The actual survey took place a couple of weeks later on November 3rd, (due to logistics of the busy yard schedule) and lasted an entire day. It began with the haul-out occurring the previous evening, so the hull would have time to dry out a little before the survey began the next morning. Starting at 5am, our surveyor worked all day and conducted the sea trial on the way back to the marina. The inspection lasted until 11pm. We received an email from our surveyor around midnight, his time, stating that no major issues had been found, and that the report would come along in a few days.

Negotiations: After we reviewed the report, we sent it off to our broker with the list of things our surveyor said needed repaired and servicing. While in the BVI everything on our list was repaired, this is NOT the case in the Med. We were told that boats in the Med are less used and are in really good condition. Um, nope! In fact, the boat was far from the condition we were told it was in. There are stress cracks in the gelcoat, fractures in the supports holding up the hard-top bimini, ripped rub-rails on the transom from hitting the dock, torn section on the genoa sail, chips in the gelcoat, saildrives and engines needed servicing, bleach stains on the galley table, among a few other items...and they won't include the inventory that was included in the BVI. Our surveyor said that for a charter vessel of 5 years, it was in good condition compared to other charter boats. Wow, if this is considered good condition, I'd hate to see what the other boats look like. We were very disappointed because we had such a great experience with the same company in the BVI and had set our purchase price for the boat in Turkey based upon this experience. Once we realized they do not do phase outs, we negotiated a lower price due to the amount of work we are faced with completing. The base has also closed down permanently, so the staff are not happy and obviously do not care about the quality of their work (as reported by our surveyor since we spoke with him).

 The next step was to send in the list of recommendations our survey had written up. The seller responded to fixing some of the gelcoat issues (which we aren't really confident about, but we will see how they look at delivery), two chafed lines, and a couple of other small items. After negotiating some more, we reached an agreement and set a date for delivery. This was supposed to happen the week of Thanksgiving. We booked our tickets and hotel and set off for New York (the only direct flight to Athens). The day before we were set to fly, we received a call that not all of the paperwork from the seller had arrived, and so we would have more delays. WTF?! We were beyond frustrated by this point, but what else could we do, but turn around and go back to Virginia to wait it out. We'd also have a home to stay in for Thanksgiving instead of a hotel.  We were told over and over that the documents were in the mail.

More emails and phone calls. I think everyone involved wanted this to be over already, no one more than us! Delivery was then set to take place after Thanksgiving--more delays!!! The hold-up was that we were STILL waiting for the seller's documents to arrive from France. Here we are in the middle of December and it took THREE tries for the seller to get the paperwork correct. Seriously.  Our broker got the head honcho of the company involved at this point, because, really? Three tries? At this point, I am amazed J and I did not take to drinking heavily due to all the stress!

We finally had everything in order as of Tuesday, December 12th. We received copies of all documents and the final piece was getting the boat's registry deleted from Guernsey and registered with Delaware (we will transfer registration over to the US Coast Guard). The stars had finally aligned and we were moving forward! But, we would not truly celebrate until we had inked those papers.
We were out to dinner Thursday evening (12/14) when we received a phone call that our documents were ready. Mind you, this was at 4:55pm and the banks closed in 5 minutes. They weren't supposed to be ready until the following day, but we weren't going to complain.

We HAD to get them notarized the SAME DAY, per instructions. A quick google search and Stef found a notary at a local UPS store. We boxed up dinner and promised the kids dessert after the paperwork was sent off.
Fortunately, it was a few minutes drive from the restaurant. 45 minutes later, it was all completed, scanned (so we'd have a digital copy) and on a UPS truck for delivery! Whew! We then drove back to the restaurant for dessert to celebrate!

We booked our flights and hotels on the drive home and then loaded up the u-haul to prepare for the drive to the airport the following morning. It was a 6-7 hour drive to Newark, so we wanted plenty of time to unload the boxes (we have 27 pieces of luggage--boxes plus we have 12 large backpacks) and return the uhaul and rental car.

From start to finish, it has taken over three months to get this deal done and a hell of amount of stress!

Delivery and moving aboard: 

Our SPOT gps tracking device.

We mailed a GPS tracking device to our surveyor who placed it aboard the boat on the morning of 12/15. While there, he took another look to ensure everything was done in according to our repairs agreement and we learned that NOTHING had been done as agreed.  Really, this was beyond frustrating! WTH people?!?!  The silver lining to this (because I always try to look for one and stay positive) is that at least we will know the work will have been done correctly, as we will be doing it or overseeing those who are. After more phone calls and emails, we will NOT be signing the release of liability until we are physically ON the boat! We did ask that the delivery take place under the seller's insurance though. There will also be the GPS tracker, so we can track RoundAbout's journey. After what we just went through, we are taking no chances and want to limit as much risk as possible. Once we see the boat in person, we will sign the remainder of the paperwork and set about moving in! We seriously cannot wait for this to finally happen!

Surprise, the registration documents needed to allow the boat to leave Turkey had not yet arrived to the captain. In our experience, our surveyor had to go pick up the package himself from the Fed Ex delivery agent. We have relayed this info to the company, so that the captain is aware he may need to go pick it up. /We kept checking every day, as we asked for and received the Fed Ex tracking number. It had arrived in Istanbul on the 19th, but just sat there.

We waited another week for the boat to be delivered to Greece and it was finally here two days after Christmas. We tracked the journey on our SPOT app and determined they were making 9-10 knots! The passage lasted about a day and a half in total and we arrived Wednesday morning to greet the delivery crew, meet our new home, and start moving aboard. But, that's another entire post itself!

Traveling to Greece!

We left Williamsburg, Virginia around noon on the 15th of December. We had loaded everything into the suv and uhaul, cleaned the entire house, left thank-you gifts for the hosts, and were on our way! We drove straight through and arrived at the airport hotel around 10:45 pm. It should have only taken about 6 hours, but we hit terrible traffic.
After I went to check in at the hotel, we found a porter who was the most helpful and amazing guy on the planet. Well, this is how I felt after being so darned tired and just wanting to get into bed already. Together, we helped him load all of our stuff and placed it into a locked storage room (no way was all that fitting in our hotel room). We had about 10 cart loads by the time we were done. After that, the kids and I went into the room, hauling one cart piled with our backpacks (stuff we needed just for the night), while Jared went to return the uhaul and rental car. The porter guy told Jared NOT to go by himself, as it was a very bad neighborhood. He was off work in 20 minutes and would escort Jared there himself. Seriously, we tipped that guy well!

Unloading everytihng into the hotel.

We all slept well that night, relieved that this journey was finally underway. How we would manage getting all our stuff to the airport and checked in? Well, we would just see how it all worked out.

The next morning, we had a nice breakfast at the hotel and took the kids and Sunny out to a grassy area to play in the snow. They loved making snowballs, rolling them down the hill, and watching it grow larger as it gathered more snow. Pretty fun to watch.

Later that afternoon, I reserved a shuttle to take us to the airport will all our stuff. The clerk asked why we had so much stuff and I gave her a brief rundown of our story. She excitedly asked for our blog info, as her dad has a boat and she loves being out on the water.

After a quick dinner, we checked out of the hotel and started loading all our stuff into the shuttle. The driver was another amazing guy, who loaded everything in cheerfully. We all climbed aboard, over and around the boxes and settled in for the short ride to the terminal.

Yes, this was a huge amount of work, but we did it! 

Upon arriving, we were now faced with the task of finding carts to haul all this stuff. I spotted three, and we began loading them up. An airport porter, began lecturing me that we were not allowed to use the carts unless we paid him $60. Our shuttle driver began shouting at him that it was illegal to charge and that he was going to call the port authority. The porter started to take the carts away but thought better of it. I guess a tip was better than no tip. We thanked and tipped our friendly driver and headed off to the check-in counter.
We must have been such a sight! After paying the porter and his friends (we ended up paying $60 still, because of the extra guys, but whatever, we just wanted it done), we began the check-in process.

There is this pile and another behind me as I took this photo. 

We were about 4 hours before our flight and lucky for us, not many other people were in line. The lady at the counter gave us a strange look. I guess she doesn't see a family with a dog and about 40 pieces of luggage to check in everyday. She was very scared of Sunny though. If you know Sunny, she is a sweet dog who just loves attention. Who would be afraid of her? She wasn't even paying attention to the lady, but still, the clerk kept her distance.

With Swiss air, we were only allowed a MAX of 4 bags per person. Thankfully, this was all sorted before we got to the airport. After reading the fine print on the booking page that we would have to call and get permission to bring that many, I went ahead and made that call. So, while on the phone back in Virginia, I went ahead and paid for 20 bags ahead of time (you get a 10% discount if you do), which meant we had 7 left over.  I was initially told to call the cargo department regarding this problem, but after speaking with them, they said to just send an email and would send it on the manager to see if we could just go ahead and check in the remaining bags without using cargo.

Marc, the manager of "space control", was great. "No problem" and "I'll email the team to let them know ahead of time, so you will be all set". THANK YOU MARC!!!!! I printed out this email in case we needed it at the counter. Once our ticket info was brought up, the clerk had the notes and email along with it, so we were allowed to check-in everything. We also had Sunny's crate and had crammed that full of her stuff (bowls, food, etc), as well as Matt's backpack, jackets, and anything else we could shove in there. Why? Because we didn't have to pay for her crate (as she is a service dog) and that meant we didn't have to pay for anything inside the crate! Saved us a few hundred dollars by doing that! After printing and sticking on all the labels (and restacking the boxes as they were labeled), we then had to move them all to the "excess sized baggage area). They would not let them on the conveyor belt for whatever reason. Again, we needed to find another cart to do this. The kids and I found another cart, but of course, another porter said it was his and that we would have to pay. After figuring out the cost of renting one of those smaller carts, I just decided to go ahead and pay the $20. We got it all done in about an hour.
Next, we still had to pay for the 7 extra bags, but this would have to be done at a different counter. We got in line, settled the kids down to play on their ipads and waited another hour to get this done.

Finally, it was time to go through security. As we approached, we saw a gigantic line and were worried about missing our flight. We still had two hours to go, but still, it was a really long line! The security saw us approaching with our dog and waived us into the priority line--NO WAITING! Thankfully, we got right through, found our gate and some snacks, and settled in to wait to board the plane. There was a pet relief area nearby, so Sunny was able to go potty before the 7 hour flight. We had taken her before leaving the hotel, but it was nice she could use that before the plane, as well.

We were allowed to board FIRST again, as we had children and a dog. The plane was nice and we found a blanket, headphones, and a pillow at our seats. We settled in for the long ride. After sitting about 30 minutes beyond our departure time, the captain made an announcement.

Finally on the plane! 

"Attention passengers, we will have another 45 minute delay due to excess luggage. We have another 140 pieces to load. Apologies for this and we know you will miss your connecting flights. We will arrange for rebooking". Jared and I looked at each other, "uh oh, guess we contributed to that". Oh well, at least it would all be on the plane.  Believe me, I had tried to find a direct flight, and did, but we couldn't book it until we had signed the documents. This meant, we had to take whatever was available after we had signed.

I immediately began making arrangements for our later arrival. I let the Airbnb know that we'd be arriving later than planned (no problem, they said) and also our reserved taxi service. They informed me that if we missed it, we would forfeit the cost and have to rebook another one. At this time, we were hoping it would be a short layover, so I told them I would call once we got to Zurich.

We took off about 2 hours after our initial departure time. We were surprised when the flight attendants began serving dinner. Seriously, it was a lovely hot meal of chicken, stuffing, and vegetables with a little piece of apple cake and a hot bread roll (there were other options such as chicken with pasta and vegetables or a vegetarian pasta dish). They came around later with pieces of chocolate. And the food? It was GOOD! It was also part of the ticket cost, so that was lovely and something we had never experienced before on other airlines. A few hours later, they served breakfast (time zone change). Again, it was lovely.

Shortly before landing, we had a message pop up on the tv screen that everyone had been re-booked and to go to the counter to get the new passes and vouchers for food and drinks. We landed and got in line and about 20 minutes later, were on our way to the next terminal. They said it would be either A or B, but we would not know until an hour before the flight. We would not be flying until around 8pm, so I called the taxi service to let them know. While we had to forfeit the money (Swiss airline is supposed to reimburse us that cost), we had to rebook another one so we could still get to the hotel. We were so happy they would have another driver for us when we landed around 1am. Whew! Crisis avoided.

After riding the air train to the next terminal (the kids loved that), we walked around trying to figure out where we were going to hang out for the next 7 hours. I saw a sign that said Family Services, so we went to see what that was about. It was amazing! It was two huge rooms set up like a classroom with kitchen, and separate room with couches and a table. The woman was so sweet and kind. We stowed our luggage in the cubby area and the kids went to play. She asked if we needed to take Sunny outside for a break. YES! Jared stayed with the kids, so they could play and he could rest a bit. I grabbed Sunny's paperwork and found my way to the exit. I had to go through customs first, but they just waived me through after learning I was just taking her outside for a potty break. It wasn't too cold outside, or maybe I was just really warm after walking so long. It felt wonderful! Sunny did her business and we returned to the Family Services area. Sunny got used to escalators (she wasn't sure the first few times we had to use them, but became a pro after that).

We brought dinner back to the Family area and had a nice chat with the woman in charge. She is a total dog person and Sunny got quite spoiled with belly rubs. =)

Around 8pm, we packed everyting up and headed to our gate (Jared had checked a few times and finally got the information). We walked the short distance to our gate in terminal B and after about 10 minutes, we were again, first to board the plane. It was much smaller, but at least we were on board and finally heading to Athens.

They served another lovely meal, greek salad, bread roll, and I honestly forgot what else was with it--we were going on so little sleep at that point.  We landed in Athens around 1am and made our way to baggage claim. I have to say, we are so proud of our kids and Sunny, as they are AWESOME travelers. They just go with the flow, no matter how tired they are. No complaining at all!

As the baggage began coming out, we were again, quite the show for those around us. We began taking everything off the conveyor belt and stacking it all up.  I had our baggage claim stickers ready, and as we stacked them, I placed the coordinating sticker on the box/backpack. This allowed us to learn which pieces were missing later on. After we rented the carts (I think we had 8 total), the kids and I loaded everything up, while Jared went to the claim window to report our missing baggage. We were missing our parasailor ($12k downwind sail) and our family medical bag. These were probably our most expensive pieces of baggage and of course, they go missing! After making the claim, we started rolling the carts to the customs area. No one in sight. Our taxi drivers (there were two of them because we had so much luggage) helped us roll everything to the waiting vans. It was around 2:30 am at this point. We got everything in, squeezed us in around the stuff and made our way to the Airbnb (I had been updating them the entire trip of our arrival time and they were so gracious and understanding).

We arrived an hour later and set about unloading everything from the van into the lobby of the Airbnb building. After tipping the drivers and thanking them, we went up to the 3rd floor, talked with our Airbnb host a little, and then crashed.

I think it was around 5am at this point.

We didn't wake up until around 1pm, and were still so tired. Jet lag is serious business! Our host arrived and said he would take us to a taverna nearby for a meal, since we hadn't eaten anything yet. Matt, Cadence, and I hopped into his car for the ride, while Jared and Zach took Sunny out to the nearby school/park for a potty break. They met us about 20 minutes later.

The taverna, Zorbas, was right on the water and lovely. We enjoyed watching the boats, seagulls, and fish swim around. The fish seemed to swim with their mouths out of the water? Low oxygen, perhaps? After a lovely meal, seriously, it was so delicious! Matt had calamari and squeezed lemon on it as the watier had suggested--he said it tasted really nice. I had a chicken, veggie, pasta dish with a butter/cream sauce. Zach had a burger, Cadence had fish and veggies, and I forget what Jared had.

Zorbas in the Kastella district of Athens/Piraeus.

We walked back to the apartment and got ready to pack up and leave to go to our next apartment that was closer to the marina. Why did we just not book one? Well, the one we wanted was not available the day we flew in, so we had to book two places.

We had a meeting with George, our boat repair contractor, and learned that our repairs were easy and not a big deal. He would also get us his contractor's discount.

The owners of the second apartment said they would help get us to their place and had a huge moving truck ready. They had used it for something else and it was lucky that they still had it! They arrived around 8pm, we loaded it up and were ready to go. Cadence and I sat up front while Jared and the boys rode in back with the luggage. The boys thought it was really exciting to do that (and totally against the law in the US)!

We arrived about 15 minutes later and started unloading everything. The moving truck blocked traffic and people were NOT happy about it. We unloaded everything onto the sidewalk and then began transferring it into the lobby of the apartment building, going as fast as we could among the honking horns and shouting.

We finally got everything into the apartment about an hour later and went to bed exhausted, but so glad we were finally done!

The next day was spent exploring, eating wonderful new foods, and learning some of the Greek language. Everyone is so friendly here and LOVES to pet Sunny. She is like a celebrity on the street!
We have learned that our boat is still in Turkey--waiting on the registration to get there so the captain can legally check out of the country and into Greece. We are hoping for the day after Christmas (fingers crossed and praying this is the case). Today, our friend Demetra (who has been a true blessing to us, brought us our missing baggage--our parasailor and medical bag which had been delivered to her home). THANK YOU!!!

We have been invited to our apartment hosts' home for Christmas dinner and a birthday party! We are feeling so welcome here and can't wait to explore more of this lovely country!

Next up: Our first few days in Greece! Lots of photos to come in that post!

I have posts about the survey and purchase process--will post those once we are actually ON the boat. 

On the Move!

There she is! s/v RoundAbout in her slip at the marina.

After delays upon delays, we are FINALLY on the move to Greece! As in, we are heading to the airport right now! RoundAbout will be delivered there a few days after we arrive. We can't wait!

I have quite a few blog posts already completed on this entire experience and will post once we are moved aboard and I find wifi. 

In the meantime, please send positive thoughts for safe travels and smooth transitions. After all, we are lugging around 27 pieces of luggage (boxes for the most part), three kids, and a dog! 

Stay tuned! =) 

The RoundAbout crew

Pup Passport Paperwork

Importing a pet into a foreign country involves many steps. Check out the US APHIS website for detailed information on requirements of various countries.

Here is what we went through importing Sunshine into the BVI, back into the USA (evacuation from hurricanes) and then Europe.

Importing a dog into the British Virgin Islands:

You need the following items in order to proceed with importing your dog into the BVI:

• three original rabies certificates with the vet's signature (NO COPIES and they prefer blue ink) of the past three years. The microchip number MUST be on each rabies certificate. 
• rabies titer certificate with the sticker from the FAVN office in Kansas (this process takes over a month, so plan ahead)
• vet records (vaccinations, health history, etc) The BVI requires a Lyme disease vaccination, which is given in two parts, a month apart (we took care of this in CA).
• international microchip
• BVI import permit (2 pages)

The first step after you have made your travel plans is to ensure you have enough time to obtain a health certificate. The certificate must be within 10 days of travel and also allow time to get it endorsed by the USDA vet (usually located in the capital of the state you are in). You have the option of mailing it in, but we didn't want to take the risk of not receiving it in time.

We got Sunshine's health certificate after an exam and answering all the questions on the form.
We then had a bit of panic--Sunshine's FAVN titer test form had a typo. The last four digits did not match her scanned microchip. After a lot of phone calls and emails, we had two letters written to verify Sunshine was indeed the dog matching the records. We had a letter each written by our vet back in CA and the one who completed the certificate in SC (a huge thanks to Dr. Isabel and her staff at Myrtle Beach Animal Hospital--they were amazing and super helpful in our time of need). The vet in CA admitted the typo mistake and promised they would request and pay for an amended form from the FAVN office. (We finally received the amended form three months later--in November; again after calling every few days inquiring).

Upon receipt of the health certificate, we drove straight to the USDA vet's office (this appointment was made ahead of time). While en route, (it was a 4 hour drive) I emailed a combined PDF file of her completed health certificate, rabies certificates, FAVN titer test, verification letters, and vet records to the BVI department of agriculture, veterinarian's office. They replied quickly with an import permit and once I emailed them the endorsed copy from the USDA vet, we would receive the final signed permit with permission to import Sunshine.

We also had to have the BVI state they would not euthanize Sunshine upon arrival, as we were a bit worried about the FAVN form typo. The USDA vet would not endorse her until she saw that the letters addressing the typo would be accepted by the BVI. Finally, after a tense afternoon and $140, it all worked out and we were on our way to the airport.

Side note: Everything that can go wrong WILL: While driving south to Miami to catch our flight, we noticed Sunny was acting strange. She stopped eating and drinking. After arriving to Cape Canaveral we found an animal hospital and had x-rays done. We discovered she had something in her small intestines. Now, those of you who know Sunny's history, won't be surprised at this (a year ago, she had two bouncy balls removed from her intestines). She underwent surgery to remove a rock and we were faced with the possibility of having to leave her behind with a friend (we weren't sure she would be allowed into the BVI in this condition). After another tense 24 hours, phone calls and emails, we decided to take her with us, as our flight was three days later and she would be out of the critical stage.

The airport caused another two-day delay due to not allowing her to fly in temperatures over 84 degrees. Jared and the kids flew on, and I stayed behind with Sunny. It was a very stressful time, but we were on our way after booking a late night flight and a miracle (the temp was 85 degrees and the clerk almost declined us our flight again until I showed the the temp was dropping and would be below 84 degrees way before the flight actually took off).

Another part of the import process is to email your flight details to the department of agriculture, so they can have a vet meet you in customs. I had to change the date of arrival a couple of times. Fortunately, the BVI customs officers were great about allowing her a later entry than was on the permit. Arriving to the Tortola airport, the vet met me, looked Sunshine over, checked the paperwork, and we were finally on our way to the boat.


**In order to get Sunny imported back into the USA, she only needed a one page certificate from an island vet. That was it. We were able to show all her docs, and they did verify the rabies and titer test.**

Importing a dog into the European Union (Greece in our case):

You need the following items in order to proceed with importing your dog into the EU:

• three original rabies certificates with the vet's signature (NO COPIES) of the past three years. The microchip number MUST be on each rabies certificate. 
• rabies titer certificate with the sticker from the FAVN office in Kansas (this process takes over a month, so plan ahead)
• vet records (vaccinations, health history, etc) She also got a tapeworm treatment, just in case we enter one of the countries that require it.
• international microchip (and the certificate of when it was implanted). This certificate was NOT required for the BVI, however, I happened to have it in Sunshine's records.
• import permit for the country you are visiting (in our case the health certificate form and the import permit were the same and were 8 pages).

A few days before we were due to fly out, I scheduled both the health certificate appointment and the USDA endorsement appointment. We needed the date within 10 days of travel and I wanted to buy as much time as possible in case of future delays.  After an exam and review of the import permit/health certificate requirements, we had everything we needed and drove off to the USDA office for endorsement. We arrived a bit early and I handed over the forms to be reviewed by the USDA vet. They told me to take a seat as it would be a few minutes. The woman in line after me had issues with her paperwork--the FAVN form had a typo and did not match her dog's microchip number. I guess this is a pretty common issue. Word to the wise: DOUBLE CHECK all of your pet's paperwork to ensure all the numbers match!

15 minutes and $38 later, we were done and on our way. We had a 6 hour drive to the airport (only one with a non-stop flight to Greece). I scanned in copies of everything while en route (better to have digital copies just in case). We are currently in transit, so I will update on how this import process went after we get through it and are on the boat! =)

Logistics

Part of being a constant traveller (and that is now a very accurate description of our family), involves research, and some places involve more than others. It is safe to say I now know more about various countries on our agenda than ever before. We had originally planned on starting out in the Med and then changed our minds when our broker convinced us it was easier to buy a boat in the Caribbean. Yeah, that may be true, but throw in a couple of hurricanes and our plans were majorly screwed up. So, I find it ironic that here we are planning on re-starting our sailing adventure...back in the Med.

For whatever reason, fate has pointed us back in this direction, and so we prepare to head off on this path, once again. I had done a little research a year or so ago, but now that we are actually buying a boat there, I needed more specific information. Being as we will start out in Greece, I am currently reading up on activities, places to visit, restaurants, islands, dog import requirements, and ports along our route west.

Due to the travel visas being suspended between the USA and Turkey, we had to figure out how to take possession of the vessel. Since we could not be in Turkey, we decided our surveyor would represent us and assist the captain (appointed and insured by The Moorings) with the delivery to Greece. We will then move aboard and be on our merry way. Or will we? We still have to wait for the paperwork so we can check out of the country and make our way towards the Atlantic. We have heard this can be a couple of weeks to over 6 months! We are working with our broker now to ensure we have a quick turn-around and our running papers in hand when we take ownership. This involves the use of a documentation agent, which requires their own separate fees. At least, we can be sure everything is handled correctly and will ease our way through customs.

We expect to close sometime around the 15th of November, but this all hinges on the results of the survey, haul-out, and sea trial. This all took place last week. We are now waiting for the response from the seller as to what items they will repair. After these have been completed, our surveyor will conduct a follow-up survey and if all is well, sign off. Then, and only then, can the close of escrow date be scheduled and the delivery can follow afterwards. All of these factors have to align before we can purchase our airfare and find a temporary place to stay while we await the delivery. I imagine it will be like dominoes, as one falls into place, the rest will follow.

On another note, we have our two pallets of stuff we shipped to St Thomas (that is still there, miraculously) that we need to pick up. If it looks like we are going to be stuck due to paperwork, I want to be able to press the "ship now" button. If we can leave soon, then we will just pick it up when we sail back to the islands. It would be nice to have it all before we make the Atlantic crossing though, as our foulies and all sorts of other much needed items are there. We are getting closer, but there are still lots of stuff to figure out!

A Tribute to RoundAbout

As any boat owner will tell you, it is more than just a boat. It is part of you, a member of your family, and for those of us who live aboard, your home. It still hurts to think of the state she is in. Sad, broken, and in need of great repair. There is hope though, so read on for an update on our home and what is in store for the crew of RoundAbout.

While we did lose our home and most everything on board, we were safe and sound when the storms hit. The positive besides safety, is that we were fully insured. Due to friends finding our vessel the day after Irma hit, the photos they sent allowed us to submit our claim rather quickly. In fact, we were the first claim our insurance received!

Once we learned Irma was heading our way, we prepped as best we could. We could not have run from the storm, as we had just purchased her, and moved aboard. We did not have the proper "out at sea" equipment, we didn't even have a dingy! As an ex-charter boat, she was equipped for cruising around the islands, not the open blue. We had to do what was best to keep our family safe, and so we tied RoundAbout in a spiderweb of thick dock-lines, took down all sails to reduce windage, surrounded her with fenders, hired our friend Travis to manage her, and hoped for the best.

We evacuated out the day before Irma hit and despite our best efforts, we could only sit by and wait to hear of RoundAbout's fate after Maria came barreling through a week later. Jared made it as far as Puerto Rico, but could not secure transport to Tortola and so returned stateside just before the storm. We did make contact with a crane company the day before Maria, but they only said they "would do their best to secure her". It never happened.

She was mostly in the same spot on the sea wall, resting on her rudders. A floating dock scraped the starboard hull, creating about a 12" crack. This allowed water to enter the starboard cabins. We received reports of water activating the bilge pumps. The pumps were successfully keeping the water at bay. However, after a week, the batteries ran dead and the pumps stopped working. I couldn't help imagining what it must have looked like, as the water crept into our home. Our sons' cabins were on this side and all of their belongings. Their clothing, toys, books, and little mementos from friends were now becoming submerged. As the water level rose, RoundAbout's starboard side began to slowly sink under the weight of it all. The water came up to the steps leading down from the saloon. You can imagine the state of this water, not being clear, but murky instead, filled with diesel, debris, and all sorts of things leaking from submerged vessels; not what you'd want inside your home.

To add salt to our wounds, someone stole ALL of our fenders, new dock-lines, and broke into our boat. Our go-pro and all related equipment (which was my birthday gift from Jared and had hundreds of family photos) was taken, along with our VHF handhelds, the kids' walkie-talkies, and other items.

For additional photos and drone footage, you can check them out on our blog's facebook page.

We then received news that our insurance did NOT want the vessel, so it would be our responsibility to handle the salvage and disposal. On October 6th, we received a frantic call from Clive stating that there was only ONE spot on the barge and if we wanted our boat on it, it had to be NOW. What choice did we have? We had to take that spot, or risk causing further damage. After speaking with the salvage company, we learned it was going to be $8k to lift RoundAbout from where she rested and placed onto land in the boat graveyard. We just received an invoice for $12k. What?! We know of others that were only charged $8k, and some of those were completely sunk and had to be brought up from the bottom of the marina. For those of you waiting to have your boat lifted, check around to see what others are being charged, before you agree with the salvage company.

On top of this cost, we would also face storage fees from the marina. We had to figure out something or this was going to add up quick. As if in answer to our prayers, we began receiving emails from blog followers asking us if we would consider selling RoundAbout, despite her damaged state. Apparently, there are a lot of people out there who buy damaged boats at a great discount and then restore them to either sell or keep for themselves. All were very respectful in asking and we appreciate it. Thank you.

Jared flew back to the island to sort this all out. The port side was completely dry, as was the majority of the saloon! Our starboard cabins and engine room was submerged, and so work began to "pickle" the engine to prevent damage. The engine can remain this way for months and still be good to go! Jared also had the task of removing our belongings off the boat. There was a lot that just went into the trash due to the condition. However, he did manage to save a few things. For example, Zach's stuffed fox was up on the top shelf and was perfectly fine! He ran into a dock neighbor and they helped each other rescue things off each other's boats and tossed it all into a barrel of disinfectant. After soaking in this, they ran them through the wash. He said a final farewell to RoundAbout and left the island.

After Jared sent me the videos and photos, I created the advertisement for RoundAbout and posted it online. Our broker could not believe the number of emails he received; so many that the server shut down! We were also overwhelmed with messages on facebook and our email inbox. All this interest made me hopeful that RoundAbout would actually sail again someday! A few days later, she was sold. I know that RoundAbout will be lovingly restored and perhaps we will see her out sailing around the islands in the future. To RoundAbout and her new owner: we truly loved our home, as she was the perfect vessel for us. Wishing all the best with her restoration and we look forward to seeing her out on the water again someday.

So, now what? Well, shortly after the insurance declared CTL (constructive total loss) on our boat, we began our search for another floating home. We knew we wanted another Leopard 46, as after all, ours survived TWO Cat 5 hurricanes (it was the floating dock that did her in)! That is a testament to the build quality, right there. I'll admit we briefly entertained the idea of other boats, but after comparing them to the features of the Leopard, we just knew it wouldn't be a good decision for us.

 After we began our search, we learned the inventory was very, very low. So low, that the only ones available were in the South Pacific or Europe (there were four total). Then, a couple of listings popped up in the US and Caribbean. The prices had been increased dramatically, as if the sellers realized their opportunity at this newly created 'sellers market'. One evening, I was looking over the listings and just felt good about one of them. I kept going back to it for some reason, despite the boat being in Turkey. We then found a listing in Belize, but it had gone under contract the day before we put in our offer. So, perhaps, this one in the Mediterranean was meant to be, after all. We put in our offer and it was accepted less than  hours later! We received the news as we were having lunch with the kids. Jared looked up with tears in his eyes and held up the email on his phone. We were overjoyed! We had a home!

After this sunk in, the reality of figuring out the logistics to get to the boat took over. I immediately began researching flights, hotels, and 'all things Turkey'. We visited the Annapolis boat show and replaced some of our gear. We were making progress towards resuming our life afloat!

I had just purchased our flight and submitted applications for our e-visas, when Jared looked up from his computer and said "We won't be going to Turkey. They have stopped all visas". After a quick Google search, I read the news on the political situation involving the US and Turkey. Back to square one, with the main question being how would we take delivery of a boat when we couldn't get to it?

We posed this question to our broker and the seller (a charter company). After many emails and phone calls, we came to the idea of having the boat delivered to the neighboring country of Greece. We also asked for the seller to deliver it under their insurance (we didn't want to lose out on our investment if something went wrong while underway). This past week, we received news that our request had been granted; as they received special permission to deliver the boat to Athens. We would be able to close escrow and take ownership there. Things are finally falling into place.

Stay tuned for the details on RoundAbout 2.0!

And yes, we are keeping the name RoundAbout. While we submitted paperwork to rename her from Laura Ann to RoundAbout, we didn't have time for the official renaming ceremony. This means, we can still use the it. I don't think there could be a more perfect name, with all that we've been through. We will continue this sailing adventure; just in a round-about way! 

Boat for Sale

**UPDATE as of 10-29-17: RoundAbout has been sold. Thank you for all of your emails and we were quite overwhelmed at all of the interest!**

We have had quite a few emails asking about buying RoundAbout, despite her current condition. Let me just say, that she is STILL an awesome boat that just needs some TLC to make her sail again.
Note from our family: We LOVED this boat. As a family of 5, she was perfect for us. To whoever buys her, you are getting one heck of a deal on an AMAZING vessel. 

She is a 2010 Leopard 46 catamaran, charter version. We just purchased her in August before the hurricanes.
Link to the old listing with all the details can be found here.

Our broker has the CURRENT details as to the condition of the vessel, photos of how she looks now, and what is all included. The port hull and saloon completely dry, never submerged. Starboard hull was submerged (dock punctured the starboard side and it flooded--has been pumped out and put on the hard). You can check out our blog's facebook page, as well, for some photos from Jared's visit to the island over this past weekend.

For those interested in purchasing our boat and want to view the current condition of the vessel:

Please contact our broker, Clive Allen, for photos and details: clive.allen@bviyachtsales.com

Email is best, as phones are not reliable yet on the island. There is a brief description and photos on the BVI Yacht Sales webpage.
Direct link to RoundAbout's listing.

Here is a note from Clive (internet is challenging there at the moment, so please be patient as he works to respond to everyone):

Hello,

Firstly, please do excuse this generic e-mail, though due to the ridiculous level of enquiries, I feel it the most fair and correct way.

BVI Yacht Sales Ltd are handling the sale for the owners of 'Round About' and as a well-established yacht brokerage, all normal ethics and principals as laid out by the YBAA shall apply.

'Round About' spent more than a week with both transforms on the main marina concrete bulkhead and fully afloat, with the bilge pumps keeping up with water ingress which entered via a 12" crack on her forward starboard hull just below the waterline. (not a hole) Then when the batteries ran flat, that starboard hull started to fill and over the following week, filled with water, including her starboard engine room also. (engine is still submerged as water remain in the engine room space but will soon be emptied and engine pickled.)

No mast as it broke in 3 pieces.

She was salvaged the 7th October and now is dry stored on her keels.

Storage will be settled to the end of October (assuming sold prior) for the successful purchaser and the vessel will be free of all liens and incumbrances. Salvage fee has already been paid in full.

She is CTL, (complete total loss) as declared by the surveyor and insurers.

Here is the link to pictures;

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Occ6EUlnNfBdldnO2 

Unfortunately, we are not able to obtain quotes for repairs and it has become very apparent that in such situations with such vessels, it is for all interested parties to go on what they have and decide accordingly.

The vessel is dry sorted here in Nanny Cay Tortola and for their rates etc please check; www.nannycay.com   

It is a full service marina with all trades available and owners/ crew etc are allowed to work on their own vessel. (please take note of the ‘laydays’ section in the boatyard section.)

Their policies are being reviewed this week for the new owners that buy these CTL or damaged boats but I believe it will be something like; rather than the normal 3 month upfront payment for dry storage, I think they will ask for 6 months advance and also a $10k USD payment to be held in Escrow in case any of these owners decide they have bitten off more than they can chew, hence this money will be used for disposing of the vessel, should that happen.

Good luck to all and I am sure 'Round About' will be sold very, very soon.

Clive Allen

Yacht Broker BVI Yacht Sales Ltd 

Island Recovery and an Update on RoundAbout

s/v RoundAbout in the wreckage yard 

Jared has traveled back to the islands to deliver supplies twice now, helping out in Puerto Rico, as well as the BVI.

He is presently on island again to sort out RoundAbout, now that she is in the wreckage yard. It is now our responsibility to sort out the disposal and avoid storage costs. Apparently, there are people looking to buy wrecked vessels, so we hope to have the sale take place while he is there.

While we were fortunate enough to get her pulled out of the water, a lot of damage was done. It hurts my heart to see our home this way.  As you will see in the drone video below, there are still a lot of sunken vessels in the marina and thousands more damaged on land. There are so many who lost not only their homes, but their businesses as well. So, what about recovery?

The islands are resilient and have already begun working their way to recovery. Restaurants, hotels, and charter companies are opening back up. This saying has been going around the island and it is so true: "Our sand is still golden, our water still blue, and the drinks are cold"!
These photos were taken AFTER the hurricanes! #bvistrong #isandstrong #recovery

The latest reports are that the islands will be ready for tourism next month! It is critical to the rebuild effort to have tourist dollars. Please come visit! You will make a major difference and enjoy a lovely vacation! We can hardly wait to get back! Here is a link to the latest info for tourism.
Another link to the BVI Tourism board.

We have been amazed at all of the support we've received and believe me, we are truly grateful. You keep our hearts full! To address some of the questions we've received:

What are your plans? We don't use the word "plan" anymore. Because, well, just look at the past month. We are under contract for another boat, another Leopard 46 that is currently in the Med. Why another Leopard? We are fans for life, after seeing ours survive TWO category 5 hurricanes, one being a direct hit! It was the failed docks that sunk her, not the hurricanes.

A preliminary survey takes place on the 18th, with the in-depth survey and sea trial around the end of the month. We are anticipating taking delivery early November and sailing through to make an Atlantic crossing sometime in December or early January (making sure hurricanes are not in the forecast and that the weather is clear for the passage). The passage from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean is usually about 2-3 weeks. We will hire a captain to take us across, this being our first ocean crossing and the need for appeasing our insurance.

From there, we anticipate resuming our life afloat in the islands and assisting with recovery efforts. Jared, a civil engineer, will work on rebuild efforts, while Stef will work with the education sector.

How are the kids handling all of this? You know, they are pretty great kids and have dealt with all the chaos brilliantly! We are continuing their homeschool routine and taking field trips to local historic sites. They are excited to move aboard our new boat and exploring new places. Swimming from the boat is high up on the list.

How is Sunny? Our sailing pup is doing just fine! She has been to the vet for another checkup, and is healthy and happy! She is enjoying playing with the kids, going for walks, and exploring. She does NOT like being apart from us and follows us everywhere. Yep, even if one of us goes to shower, she is right there next to the tub. Separation anxiety, for sure. We are hoping this eases as time goes on.

As a family, we have gone through a lot and have grown stronger because of this. Personally, I have learned a lot about myself and gained a new perspective. What used to cause me stress is NOTHING compared to recent events. Our kids have some life lessons under their belt and learning about determination, perseverance, and most importantly, helping others. As Cadence loves to sing (and has become our family mantra as of late): Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing is gonna be alright!

Drone videos Jared took this morning:

Video of RoundAbout

Video of Nanny Cay Marina

Starting Over

As promised, here is the latest!

Jared successfully made it back to Tortola to rescue Sunny. It took five cancelled flights before he finally made it there. The airports finally reopened, but with limited services. 

Unfortunately, our boat is mostly underwater. He took some video and photos and said goodbye to our home. 

When we arrived to pick them up from the airport, the kids tumbled out of the car to hug their daddy and Sunny. The smile on Sunny's face was so huge! She was definitely glad to be back with family. Our friends, Karen and Chris, who took such wonderful care of her back on Tortola, are amazing people. They kept her safe and gave her lots of love. Karen said she was Sunny's Godmother, and that is an understatement. She is an angel!

We are now heading to Virginia, where some friends have offered their home to us. We plan on taking the kids to see Colonial Williamsburg (as a 5th grade teacher, I have ALWAYS wanted to go there), and some of the other sights.

Our offer was accepted on a boat, so we are figuring all of that stuff out. We are excited and happy to have a home again soon! It is located in Europe though, so we definitely have a lot of work ahead of us.

So, things are looking up. Slowly but surely, we will be back home on the water and can continue this trip! Maybe, I'll finally be able to teach abroad, after all! The thought makes me happy, because I had been looking forward to that a lot.

Hope all of you are well and I'll keep updating as I can. Thank you for all of your continued support. Having you all cheer us on is a huge help! :)
-Stef

Moving Forward

FYI, this is a pretty depressing post. It's our blog, meant to record our life as it happens. This is as real as it gets.

In all honesty, it has been a tough few weeks. Since Irma passed, we had thought our boat was repairable and looked forward to returning to the islands and helping out where needed. Jared flew out to Puerto Rico with a lot of supplies and was waiting for a vessel to take him over the next day.
He was going to deliver the supplies, secure our boat, rescue Sunshine (our dog) and help out as needed. We should learn to stop making plans.

Maria was forming and heading our way. The second hurricane within a week. Another Cat 5. Jared flew back to Maine, where we are staying temporarily with friends to wait out the storm. He booked a flight to head back a few days after.

It was during this waiting period we got word that Maria had caused further damage and our boat was now sinking. It had come off the seawall and the starboard side was going under. Someone had stolen all our fenders and who knows what else off the boat.  Despite all efforts to contact the marina and a salvage company, no one would help us. We've called, emailed, texted and nothing. The only response is "maybe we can get to it, but no promises". The marina manager stated they could not move any boats without a surveyor signing off. Our previous surveyor was on site and could do the job, but our insurance denied this, stating they had to use their own. This delay caused us to lose our home!

If something had been done to secure RoundAbout before Maria hit, we would still be ok. Now, we truly are losing our home and everything on board.

Since then, we've booked another flight, only to have it cancelled. Three times, we have been attempting to get there. We are beyond frustrated. We have to keep trying. So far, we have another flight booked for later on this week.

In order to maintain some degree of sanity, we try to keep a routine. We are doing the best we can for our children at present. Keeping somewhat of a school routine, taking them on outings, and keeping up a strong front for them. However, it is a huge challenge to do so. The other morning, I just lost it and couldn't keep myself together any longer. My children comforted me, which made me feel worse. I am supposed to stay strong and I failed.

We have received word that our insurance marine surveyor is on the island and will get to the boats 'when he can'. We have no idea when he will get to ours or how long it will take for them to get back to us. We think it will be totaled, as the starboard half is submerged and gets even more so each day. Water is already into the saloon. I get sick at the thought of this. After all the hard work to get to this sailing life and now it has been taken away, before we even got started. We literally had 5 days. DAYS! Ugh.

So now what?

We are not making any plans at this time. We are just trying to survive from one minute to the next. Earlier today, I found myself crumbling and I had to talk myself through the next few minutes. Doesn't that sound crazy to you? Sometimes, it just overwhelms me and it is all I can do to focus and get through it. These waves of anxiety and stress are so hard to struggle through. Friends remind us to breathe and that it will be ok. The rational side of me knows this. However, I find it hard to breathe, literally,  and the feeling in my stomach just won't go away. Jared and I are going back and forth from being the supporter to being in need of support.

It then reminds me of an article someone posted on one of the BVI facebook groups about hurricane victims and what they go through. Yep, totally checked off all those indicators. Then, I get angry with myself for getting so low. This is NOT me. I am the "chin up and deal with it" kind of girl, not this emotional wreck of a person. Perhaps, this is a teaching moment, or an opportunity to grow from this experience. See, there is my rational and positive side coming through.

So, we take the days as they come, deal with whatever photos and news comes through from those on the island. We try to remind ourselves that we are fortunate. We have our family and are together. We are insured and will get through this. Still, it is very hard to deal with.

Despite all these emotions and despair, we do have some hope. We know that once things are settled, we can find a new boat and start anew. We are not giving up just yet.

Hurricanes Suck!

Well, if you have been following our Facebook page, you already know the status. If not, here is the status update on the RoundAbout crew. Forgive the out of sequence posts, but this one takes precedence.

We took acceptance of the vessel on August 30th and moved aboard the next day. We finally were here and so excited for our adventure to begin. Little did we know, we would have quite the kickoff, for the next day, we began to prep for a hurricane.

Taking down the sails.

Early on the morning of September 1st, we brought RoundAbout to our slip over at Nanny Cay marina. We settled in and then began purchasing materials for hurricane prep. Why didn't we just sail off out of the path? We were not equipped properly for out at sea. We still needed to purchase a sat phone, radar equipment, epirb, get all of our stuff out of St Thomas, the list goes on. We had so much to do before we could take our family out to sea. So, we opted for securing the boat as best we could in our marina. We enjoyed the time we had in between prep and kept a close eye on Irma's path. At some point it looked like it would track north and we would be ok. We bought plane tickets just in case; insurance should the storm change direction. It proved to be a good decision. We learned it was heading straight for the BVI and that the eye would pass over our island of Tortola. We had to leave.

Choosing fenders and lines.

We secured RoundAbout as best we could, You can see videos of our work on our Facebook page, linked on the left sidebar or you can click here.  She was tied with many dock lines, most of were bought BRAND NEW a few days before the storm. We purchased a bunch of new fenders. The largest we could find. A new friend we met while buying supplies in the chandlery drove Jared to pick up tires to tie to the dock for added protection. We took down all the sails, canvas, bimini cover, screens, basically anything that would lessen the windage. The marina staff came by and we added lines to the chains embedded in the concrete underwater in front of the boat. We did all we could do.

The night before, we took the kids out for ice cream bars and wandered around our new home of Nanny Cay. We love it so much and all the people we have met along the way. It is such an amazing community! We made our way back to RoundAbout and all laid down on the trampoline to enjoy the quiet evening. This is one of our favorite things to do on our boat. It is so peaceful and restful. The sky was clear and the moon shone brightly. I thought about all the nights we would have to do this and tried to keep the anxiety about the storm at bay. We got the kids ready for bed and fell asleep gently rocked by the incoming swell.

After packing some things into backpacks (we thought we'd be returning in about a week) and leaving Sunny with a friend who had a concrete safe room within their house, we set off for the airport.  We were lucky, that we had bought those tickets, because we wanted to ensure we could get the kids out of the way if Irma did track towards the BVI. The lines at the various check-in counters were long.

Mainsail and stack-pack down.

You see, days leading up to it, many were nonchalant about the entire affair. They didn't think it would actually hit directly, because nothing like this had ever happened before. The storms always tracked away from the islands. We didn't even see boards getting put up until two days before. We actually were thinking of cancelling our flight, but my gut just wouldn't let me. I'd rather risk losing the money instead of not having an escape plan in place.

We arrived at the airport early and sat down on the floor to wait for the Seaborne airline counter to open. There were a group of younger 20-somethings in front of us. They were desperately trying to find a way off the island and ended up chartering a helicopter at $11,000. It was either that or figure out where they could stay that was safe. I felt for them and all the others who begged for a spot on a flight, even if it were just to get their kids out of harm's way. As a mother, I hurt for these parents, desperate to send their kids to safety. Again, I hugged mine close and tried to breathe. Would the flight be cancelled? The departure screens flickered and with each flicker, more and more flights showed cancelled. We waited. We checked in and talked with the airline clerk about her plans. Would she be safe? Would she get home in time to secure her home? She was scared and wanted to hurry home to get ready. We prayed together for the safety of all, that this storm would somehow magically track north.

After getting our boarding passes, we made our way through security. Again, I was the only one who got stopped. In Miami, it was a wrench Jared had tossed into my backpack after the escape from being trapped behind the storage place's gate. This time though, it was the kid's large toothpaste tube that one of them put inside my backpack. Of course, once this was discovered, the guy said he had to search everything. This included, to my horror, pulling everything out. Yes, my underwear was held up for display for all to see. After getting through all of that, the guy asked if I wanted to him to repack my stuff. "No thank you", I said as I shoved everything back in as quickly as I could manage.
We settled down in the hard plastic seats, with the news blaring overhead about the approaching doom, I mean, storm.

We were scheduled to depart at 10am, but after that came and went, we started to wonder if it really would be cancelled. An announcement came that there was some delay in Puerto Rico, so we would not depart until 11am. We all got up from where we were sitting to walk around a bit and then settled into chairs near the departure gate. We were discussing the delay and what it could possibly mean, when a man leaned over showing us his phone. He had an app that showed whether the plane was in the air or still on the ground. Ours was still on the ground at SJU. We started to worry. Was the plane damaged? Pilots not wanting to come over here? What?
We chatted a bit. This man, originally from Britain, lived in Tortola but decided to evacuate over to Puerto Rico. He had done this before when the last hurricane came through. He described the hotel he would stay in, that it was made of thick concrete and he felt safer there.

Another half hour goes by and I asked an employee if the plane was approaching or if the status had changed again. She said it was departing soon. Had we missed something? The British man leaned over again and said the plane was still grounded. Maybe the app didn't update? At least, that was what I wanted to think. Others must have had the same app, because phones were at face level, eyes never leaving the screens.

All of a sudden, someone shouted "yes"! We all turned and she announced that the plane was in the air! A few minutes later, the announcement came on the loudspeaker that our plane would be arriving shortly. A huge collective sigh of relief was heard from the room.

Soon, we were boarding the plane and on our way to Puerto Rico. It was a bumpy start, as the winds were picking up and as we looked back towards our island, the clouds were dark and ominous off in the distance.

Landing in San Juan 30 minutes later, we went directly to the American Airlines counter to see if we could get a flight out today instead of our 8am flight tomorrow. No such luck, even with the added flights to help get people out of the storms' way. So, we had some bad pizza and checked in to our hotel room at the airport.

The kids were restless, as were we, waiting for any news. Some people had already begun posting on Facebook what it was looking like back in the BVI. Still making preparations and stocking up on supplies.

We decided to take the kids to an early dinner and while walking back to the room, we spied a laundry area and a hot tub. Of course, the kids all wanted to go into the hot tub, so while Jared watched them, I did laundry around the corner.
While sorting the loads into two washing machines, a young woman came up and offered me
a box of laundry soap she didn't need. We got to chatting and I learned they had just started their honeymoon when they had to trade in their little island villa for an airport hotel. They would be stuck there for the remainder of the week.
A couple of hours later, we were back in the room and decided to make it an early night due to our early wake-up call the next morning.

At precisely 4:40am, the alarm went off, so we drowsily packed up and made our way to go through security and find breakfast. As we sat waiting to board the plane, we watched the flight announcement screen. Some flights had been cancelled, but ours was still on time. Of course, worry crept into my mind once again. Would it be cancelled? Would we get out in time?

A airline employee sat opposite me, as we waited. We made small chit-chat in Spanish. She was leaving her 1 year old and 8 year old back with her parents while she would be on this flight to Miami. As the plane would not return until the storm had passed, she was going to stay with family in Orlando. Yes, she was scared about leaving her children but felt safe as their home was prepared. However, as a mother, I could identify with her anxiety. We really had no idea how powerful this storm truly was. Reports from the leeward islands were barely starting to come in.

I heard my family's name called to the airline counter. My breath caught. Was there something wrong? Would we not be on this flight after all? Overbooked? It turned out that they wanted to place us all together since we had children. It meant we were in the last row of the plane, but at least we were on it.

Once in the air, I began to relax a little. We were on our way to the mainland. The pilot made an apology for the rough ride during takeoff. I looked out the window over the kids' heads and saw nothing but white fluffy clouds and blue sky. By the time we landed in Miami, Irma would be in the BVI. I tried to think positively and focus on what we had to do once we landed.

Of course, we would hit the ground running. We had to get the camper and car out of storage and get the heck out of Florida.
About 3 hours later, we were getting into a taxi and heading straight for the storage place. After cancelling our rental agreement, we hooked up and headed out of there. Our friend Karen, who was watching Sunny, was texting me photos and updates. "It's about 80mph now, but all is well", she said. Sunny looked like she was sleeping through it all. Karen was cheerful and it made me optimistic. Maybe things would be ok.

Trying to get OUT was an issue. There was a gas station next door and the line for fuel was LONG. I had to get out and motion for a van to please move forward, so we could squeeze by. No easy task as we were towing 30 foot travel trailer.  We plugged in some random northern state into our GPS and headed north. Trying to find gas was difficult. All the stations we passed had bags wrapped around the fuel nozzles or caution tape around the tanks. Fortunately, Jared had the thought to fill up with gas before we placed it into storage. I don't think we would have been able to make it out otherwise.

We made one stop at the mall for Cadence to pick out her birthday present. For the past year, she had been saving her money for an American Girl doll. With her birthday in a few days, my mom guilt was too much and I made Jared stop so she could get her present. What kind of birthday would she have with us on the run anyway? We needed to do something special. The beam of a smile on her face made it worth it all. She was one happy girl.  We stopped to grab a coffee on the way out and the barista had no idea about the hurricane coming her way. We told her to start getting ready, for we were starting to see the devastation it had caused in the islands. Again, as Jared drove I was constantly checking my phone for updates. About 1:30pm, Karen's texts stopped. I figured the island had lost cell service.

We drove straight through for two days, only stopping to sleep. Our original plan was to head for family in California, but then when our dear friend offered us a safe haven at her home in Maine, we made the decision to turn back and head there. For one, it was a shorter drive and we would all be on the east coast when Jared flew back to assess the damage and help out. We could also see the fall colors and enjoy visiting with friends for awhile. The kids would have acres of room to run, a river to play and fish in, and friends to play with. We turned back east, but took a more northern route, away from Irma's path.

While on the road, we were glued to our phones, searching for ANY news of our friends, our boat, and the damage Irma had caused. It was terrifying. Our island home, that we had just begun to familiarize ourselves with, was gone. Obliterated. Numerous buildings wiped out. We just couldn't believe it. We had no idea it would have been this bad. Had we known, we would have thrown everything we could have into our packs and taken Sunny with us. Or, maybe we would have just immediately sailed south.

In hindsight, yes, we should have just taken Sunny with us, but she had recently had surgery and was fragile. I did not want to add stress to her healing process. Now though, I would give anything to go back in time and get her. As of now, we have heard the friends watching her are fine, but we have not had any word from them. We are praying that Sunny is also fine. The kids ask every hour and it is breaking my heart not knowing.

I was browsing through Facebook photos one evening, while we were still making our way towards Maine, when I found RoundAbout. I rushed out of the camper to get Jared, who was on the phone with a client. "I found her! I found RoundAbout"! We easily identified her by the dock lines, fenders, and main sail battens that were still lashed to the deck.

She was still tied to the floating dock we had left her to. When the storm surge came in, it destroyed the dock, but RoundAbout had held on! Her stern was resting on the hard, while the bow rested on another boat that had plowed into her in the water. The mast, boom, rigging, and stanchions were all down. The mast bent forward over the trampoline. The roof was crushed in and the bimini had been ripped off. There were multiple marks on the sides of the hull,  but no broken glass that we could see from the photos. The rudders and keel would need replacing, as would the props and possibly the sail drives. Our fenders were still in place. We could still see all the duck tape we had placed over the helm station instruments, including the radio. Maybe those would be alright?

Thankful that we had SOME news of RoundAbout, my focus was now about our friends and Sunny. Slowly, the missing list on one of the BVI facebook groups would have names highlighted green to indicate they were safe. I checked th,is list multiple times a day.  Eventually, we heard one of our family friends, the Allen family were fine, but with damage to their home. It took a few more days before we heard of the well being of the Simpsons, who were also watching Sunny. Still no news on Sunny though. I kept following the community boards, searching for any news. We received a text from Clive that they were safe and would call soon. We kept praying and hoping.

I read a book once, where the character lost a loved one. The pain she felt both in her heart and stomach, were exactly as the author described. I felt as if I had to hold myself together with my arms across my stomach to ease the pain. It was relentless and I couldn't eat. I was scared for the people who were in trouble, anxious about what our future would hold, and wrestled with regret over what we should have done. Maybe we should have just gone immediately over to St Thomas, picked up our pallets, an EPRIB, and other equipment the first day we moved on board. Then made a run for it! We would have been ok. We would still have a functioning boat. But we didn't, we had not an inkling of what this storm could do. We listened to the experts and secured her to the dock and left. We had to keep our family safe. They say hindsight is 20/20. It's true.

We arrived to Krista's on Monday afternoon. Exhausted. We were so glad to be done driving for awhile. To have a home base where we could recharge. We had so much to do though, and so on Tuesday, we ran errands, buying replacement clothing, warmer clothing than we had, since island life only requires shorts and a t-shirt, maybe shoes.

We also got the text we had been waiting for. Sunny was OK! She was safe and well. Karen had taken her to get the staples removed by a vet and asked when we were coming to collect her. Jared booked his flight and we bought a lot of supplies to take back. Our friends made requests of specific items, so we bought those as well. One of our friends back in CA is Search and Rescue (SAR), the same team Jared volunteered for back when we lived there. He is going to meet up with Jared and help him with Sunny and the boat.

Today is Thursday and we heard that the pallets we had shipped to St Thomas were safe and undisturbed. Little by little, things are looking up. Our boat is heavily damaged, but maybe she can be repaired. We will know early next week, as our insurance emailed to let us know they have sent out a surveyor  who will be on the island the same time Jared will be. There is so much figuring out to do, though.

If RoundAbout can be repaired, where will this take place? Ideally, Nanny Cay marina, so we could move back home. We've applied with the government to assist. Jared would serve as engineer and I would assist the schools.

If RoundAbout is totaled, then we will look for another boat. Yes, this storm set us back a huge amount, but we will overcome this and move forward. We are not giving up. We WILL set sail someday. It is just going to be a little while before that happens.

A silver lining to all of this (I really am trying to be optimistic about this whole thing; I have to in order to stay sane), is we are showing our kids that if you really want something, you go for it, no matter what. Sometimes life really throws a curve ball but if you are dedicated and determined enough, you CAN make your dreams happen.

Update and photos to come sometime next week.