Where it all began

January - February, 2013

After years of saving and dreaming of things to come, and months of scanning the listings, I found 'Dream Odyssey'. It was located on the west coast of Florida, in an area called Palmetto, just south of Tampa.

After several phone conversations with the broker I arranged to get over to see it with my own eyes. And so with a hired mustang convertible I set out one weekend in early January 2013. The drive across the state of Florida from east to west is fairly uneventful, but with hopes of what I was going to see being what I was looking for it seemed to be over in minutes.

I found the marina and brokers office where I met with Gary. I'm sure he could sense my excitement, although I was trying not to seem too keen. Trying to play it cool! Then it was a short walk down the dock to finally see 'Dream Odyssey' first hand. I could pretty much tell from the moment of stepping on board that it felt right, the layout of the cockpit and down below fitting in with what I imagined. She's not a young boat so isn't all about being shiny and modern, but it felt like it could be home. Spent a good bit of time looking over everything, and didn't come as a surprise that at the end of it I was making an offer, pending a survey.

Now it was down to waiting for a reply from the current owners, an older American couple that had now settled in Panama after spending years sailing about the Caribbean. It was only a day or so later that the reply came through, offer was accepted! It was quite a feeling that everything I had been working towards was coming together. Now to organize a day for survey and hope that my initial success wasn't to be foiled by a blistering hull or the like.

With a survey date set, I shortly after finished up with the current job I was in at the time. Actually I was already set to finish up, but the timing of it all came together very well. And a few weeks later I was once again driving across the state. Arriving the day before survey was set to take place, I spent a couple of hours that afternoon just sitting at the marina with a thousand possibilities running through my mind of what may be.

The next morning I was up early, way before my alarm which was set for quite early anyhow. It was that similar feeling I get before I'm about to make a major change in life. The sun was shining and it was destined to be a good day. Survey started with going over the boat where she sat in the water at the marina. My surveyor was great, didn't mind me asking plenty of questions and pointing out areas of possible concern. After a morning of this, a little lunch on board, it was time for a short sail down to the haul out facility. Through the course of the morning a decent breeze had blown up, which made for a good chance to get a quick feel how she got along under sail. All going well so far. After a little incident docking into the lifting bay (by an independent skipper bought in for the move), she was lifted out of the water. Again some more thorough inspection and that was that.

All seemed to be in order and I found myself that afternoon, a year ago today, 12th February 2013 signing the papers to become the new owner!