so we could be buying a boat! crazy!

“This could be a really good deal,” was the title of another email my coworker sent me. He had sailed across the Pacific before with his own family and constantly sends me craigslist adds for boats that I should buy. While my intention was to buy a boat a couple years from now, it was useful to see what I could get for what price. This add was a 1977 Fuji 45’ Ketch. Built in Japan, they are known for their ruggedness, safety. It felt like a few stars had aligned and I started to really ponder if I should make a move on this one.

For one the price was much cheaper than I had planned on. It was listed for 45k. My expectation was that I would spend nearly double that at minimum. I also had actually seen the exact same model 6 months ago, so I knew the layout and was pretty familiar with the overall design and construction. My previous coworkers are travel nurses that have sailed all over the coast of Mexico, and they happened to also own a 45’ Fuji. In short they loved it. Super safe and great to sail. Since there were only 23 ever built they actually knew the current owner. Apparently had similar dream of cruising with his family, but health problems forced sale.

In the meantime, our current departure timeline had us leaving just after Mila turned 12, a little over 4 years from now. Everyone I’ve talked to that has done this before, along with most of the online cruising community, has said that her age will be a challenging and possibly limiting factor with how long we will be out for. Basically, go before they turn teenagers.

A couple days after later I watched Mila perform her first competition dance solo. She absolutely crushed it. She no longer looked like my little baby girl…instead I saw the future flash before my eyes and I was staring at my daughter who was now a young woman, independent of mom and dad. The next morning I put an offer on the boat.