South Florida boat shopping

We flew to south Florida to do a little boat shopping!

Arriving near Naples - we had forgotten how many people live in South Florida!!!  Haha

First up was 40' Leopard - this boat has been around the world!  It's very nicely equipped.

Nice galley.

And several custom features - including this great drawer arrangement in the forward guest berth for tool/spare part storage.

This was the only boat to see in Naples - so we had a bit of fun during what remained of the afternoon.

We went for a 4 mile walk - from our hotel to the beach.....on the way I spied these HUGE ficus trees in the background (the round mushroom-like trees)....just thought they were cute  and I wonder if I can get my little ficus tree to grow like that!!!  (Nice to be in shorts on Dec 30th!!!)

Walking down the beach in Naples - we're really close to the airport  - saw several helicopters buzzing the beachline.

Walked all the way to a quaint little downtown area called Tin City - lots of shops and restaurants on the waterfront.

We went to "Pinchers" - seemed to be a popular spot.

Two-for one beers....

And some really great raw oysters!

 On the walk back thru Tin City - note the airplane on final approach to the airport.

Then the next day, it was a quick flight up to Sarasota Airport (just 80 miles).

We had an appointment with a broker to see a couple of Manta catamarans.

I didn't get a really good photo of the "whole boat"....but it's a nice sturdy catamaran.  (I don't like the name....Iguana Dance....but that could be fixed).

Interior was in good shape.

Nice large berths.

Some nice cabinetry.

And we're thinking about putting an offer in for this one!!!

Quick trip to New Orleans

I know, you may have heard that we've put off buying a boat until we return from our Australia trip next year...

But I read about this boat on a sailing forum and wanted to check it out.  So, we quickly arranged to meet the boat owner in New Orleans.

The 4 1/2 hour flight was uneventful but long!!

We had an appointment to see the boat early the next morning, so we drove into New Orleans just for fun.

 Street scene on Canal Street.

Interesting street corners!

And the re-vamped SuperDome at night.  Looks sorta like an alien space ship!

Then it was time to tour the boat....on Lake Pontchartrain.

Unfortunately, the boat wasn't quite what we were hoping for....but still a nice boat for it's age.  I've got a few more to look at still.....we might come back to this one.

 Off to the airport for the 4 1/2 hour flight home!   Fun to take off almost immediately over water!  (the little black stripes are what the digital camera does when I take photos thru the propeller arc...weird, but it does it every time!) 

And more boat shopping!

More boat shopping, but this time we feel like we've actually narrowed it down to the model we will get.

A Leopard 40.

We flew to Jacksonville to look at this 2008 Leopard 40. 

Nicely set-up cockpit.

Great interior layout -

Unfortunately, the boat was sold the day we looked at it....but we are happy we made the trip since now we will focus on this model.  And there's one for sale in Trinadad that looks like it might be just right!

More boat shopping

Long trip to Annapolis, MD and Deltaville, VA for a bit of boat shopping.

Since the airplane is in the shop, we drove to Annapolis....driving thru DC- notice the National Monument in the distance.

We had a big day - touring 5 boats.

Lots to like about all of them.

But, in the end....we just didn't find "the boat". 

So, time to head back south - the tunnel under the Chesapeake bay.  

We'll just keep looking until we find the right boat!

Sold!

The time has come....Island Girl is sold!  Not really sad - we're on the hunt for a bigger catamaran!

We flew down to the boat and removed all our "stuff".  As in all the items that were "stuffed" in all the little nooks and crannies.  

I drove the mini-van home, stuffed to the ceiling.  Duane flew home alone, dodging a few thunderstorms along the way.

All this stuff, awaiting a new home!

Boating

We didn't really have much of an issue with the 3rd tropical storm of the season - Colin. 

It rained.  Meh.  The Weather Channel, local news, etc. make too much out of these things sometimes! 

Batten down the hatches.....it's windy!

Amazing difference 12 hours makes!

Cool temps and low humidity.  Beautiful!! 

Tropical Storm Colin

So, we thought we had a beautiful week in store....but got surprised by Tropical Storm Colin.  Where did that come from????

This morning we got our 10 mile bike ride out of the way....stored the bikes at the marina clubhouse  with a garbage bag over the seats. 

Hopefully this will all blow over and we can ride again tomorrow afternoon!

Boat Shopping

We had a pretty day on Thursday so we decided to fly down to Charleston for a little boat shopping.

We WILL find the right boat one of these days!!!

There were two boats we wanted to look at so we had our broker make appointments for us to take a look.

First was another Leopard 38 - very similar to two different ones we've seen on earlier trips. But this one was a little disappointing in that even though it's a a little higher price point, it's really not in that great shape. 

Same exact layout that we've seen before - it's in OK shape, not spectacular....

We knew pretty immediately that it wasn't going to be "the boat".

So, we were off to see the next boat on the list. 

Charleston is a beautiful city!   Enjoyed the drive to the other marina.

Cool bridge!

To get to the other boat, we had to walk along the dock past  "Patriot's Point"  where the Yorktown is moored.  We'd been there with the boys on an outing many years ago.

Here is the old submarine we toured - it's in terrible shape!!  Very rusty - surprising that they still allow tours!

And the Yorktown - it looks a little worse for wear also!

Looking across to the bridge we'd driven over.

After a very long walk along the docks, we came to the other boat - really just an afterthought.  We don't know much about these boats, but we figured that while we were in Charleston, we should take a look.

This one is a Manta 40.

Seems to be a sturdy and fairly well-cared for boat.

I won't bore you with lots of photos - but I will show you one neat feature.....a washer/dryer!  Now that would be cool!

This boat does "check all the boxes" in that it has a generator, water maker, 2 a/c units.  But it does have some strange features.  We'll keep this one on the list for possibilities right now!


Time to head home - driving we spotted this round building - a Holiday Inn just like the one in downtown Raleigh!  I had assumed that was a one-of-a-kind....I guess not!