Finding our Boat!

We had a whirlwind trip to Florida recently and are happy to report that we found our boat (exact model)!

Kids went to visit their grandparents again, so Jared and I could concentrate on finding our boat (and celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary). We flew out around noon on Thursday (plane was delayed due to crew not showing up) and were expected to land around 8pm that evening. Didn't land until around 11pm, due to our flight being diverted for a medical emergency.

On the runway in Salt Lake City, Utah. Waiting to resume our trip and watching the snow fall.

After landing in Fort Lauderdale, we grabbed our bags and proceeded to locate the shuttle to the rental car station. That line was LONG! No way were we going to spend another hour in line, so we decided to walk to the rental car facility instead. It was not that far, probably around a 7 minute walk. Ha! We were the only ones there! Turns out we beat the shuttles and crowds of people. It was a super fast check-out, like 2 minutes tops and we were in our car and on the way to the hotel.

After checking in to the hotel, we realized that we still hadn't had dinner, so feeling a bit like college students, we set out around midnight in search of food. The hotel clerk recommended a pizza place (what else would be open at midnight?), so  back to the car we went. Yep, our anniversary dinner was pizza, but hey, next year we'll celebrate on our boat, so it's ok. =)

Hours later, we were back up, checked out of the hotel, and heading out to meet Andy, the broker we were scheduled to meet (Clive, our broker, had set everything up in advance). We were in an area known as the Isles of Venice, and it was just beautiful! Save for the birds dropping seeds on our heads. You'll see their "artwork" in our video (next post).

 
 Andy is a super cool guy and showed us A LOT of boats! After checking out the ones in 'Venice', we headed over to his main office at the Fort Lauderdale Marine Center and saw even more (after stopping for coffee on the way).

It was awesome to have this opportunity and walk through so many different catamarans. We made notes on the storage and ventilation, layout and overall feel. We thought we would like the Lagoon 420, but for our family, it would be a tight fit. We walked on L440s, L450s, and even a L52 which was huge! Andy took us over to the boat yard and we saw a couple other cats that were on the hard, which was cool because we could check out the bottoms, as well.

Saw a few other different types of cats, but we fell in love with Lagoon and the homey-like feel it gave us. After walking all over and through these boats, it was time for lunch and to review our notes.

We ended up eating along the beach and walked along for awhile. It was super windy, but a few people were out in the water. Fun to see a guy kite surfing! Definitely want to try that someday. We checked in to a different hotel (figured we might as well stay in different areas while we were here) that was along the ICW (intercoastal waterway). Man, let me just say that the mega-yachts were all in town and some were bigger than our house! I am not joking! The Miami Boat Show is in a few weeks, so I guess they were all coming in for that. They are HUGE! We got a room with a pool view and ICW view. This would provide for some interesting entertainment later that evening.

 I had this feeling about one particular L440, so we called Andy and headed back to that boat later that evening. Again, thanks to Andy for taking the time to meet us back there. His phone was constantly going off, but he ignored it in order to answer our questions. After taking more video and photos, we headed back to the hotel and find someplace for dinner.

We ended up eating along the waterfront and then walking for awhile afterwards. Still could not believe the size of these yachts! Some were in excess of 60 feet up from the water! As we got ready for bed, we noticed a lot of noise coming up from the pool area. Turns out the guys we had seen at dinner getting plastered, were still at it and now had decided that jumping into the pool fully clothed would be fun. Grabbing other people and tossing them in, even more so. Then, they proceeded to dance for the dinner guests down there and put on quite a show. They'll probably end up on YouTube and regretting their decisions after recovering from major hangovers.

The next morning, we got a quick breakfast (bagels and coffee because we slept in), and met Mark, another broker Clive had set us up with. He showed us a FP Lipari and a FP Helia 44. We were not impressed with the Lipari. The layout was not conducive to our family at all. It definitely did not have that open feel that he Lagoons have, so we passed on this boat and headed to Lighthouse Point, to check-out the Helia.

The Helia was located on a private dock area next to a very colorful house, rainbow dock, and just rainbow everything, down to the hammock. The artist had gone to town on their property! Beautiful artwork though. Check out this dog and pony show:

The Helia is a gorgeous boat, but there are some qualities missing for us. While it definitely felt open and spacious, the sharp corners and lack of 4 cabins was a 'no' for us. Sharp corners at sea is NOT a good idea, especially for kids. The front was totally open, no lifelines at all (yes, we are going to install the kid-webbing around the entire boat, but still). The large bap between the helm and the winches/lines was a negative. We also needed 4 cabins, and while there is a tiny little berth beyond the shower, that would not work for a kid room at all (the broker was trying to convince us of putting Cadence in that tiny space). Nope.

Pretty boat, though.

We called Andy again, because we wanted to see a L440 one last time. After seeing so many boats, we had to go back and solidify our decision. Jared was already sold, but I really wanted to sit and picture where everything would go. We measured, lifted up all floor boards (counting the storage spaces we could use), inspected the engine rooms, and discussed plans for modifications. After another hour or so it was final: the Lagoon 440 is our next home!

We emailed Clive with the news and will be talking to him in a couple of days. Now, we just have to find the EXACT Lagoon 440 we are buying. We would love to start our adventure over in Europe, but inspecting boats over there would incur more cost. We've also heard the boats are not in the greatest condition, so we'd have to really hunt around. It can be done though, so we are hopeful (boats are less expensive there). Buying in the U.S. or Caribbean would be easier, but also change our route plans. However, no matter where we end up buying our boat, it will be awesome! We will finally be starting our dream of sailing around the world with our family!