WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
I know this is against the norm in the blogging world but, I try to keep the site clean and easy to read for our reader’s enjoyment. For this reason, I opted to keep comments to one page. We would love to hear from you. Do not let my wacky thought process deter you from expressing your feelings regarding our postings or another items of interest you want to share.
- Thoughts on the cruising lifestyle?
- Do you have an favorite sailing destination or a place you think we should avoid?
- Send us your favorite recipe.
- Have you read any good books lately?
- What would you like to know about us?
Please include your e-mail so we can write back to you (email addresses are kept private)
Thanks for connecting to us!
Mark and Cindy
Mark & Cindy
Love your blog. I’m looking to purchase a 2004 Amel 53 Super Maramu 2000 Red Line for 300k, is that a good price or not?
George,
Thank you for the comment. If you are serious about buying an Amel, you should really talk to Joel Potter. Google him.
Some Amels for sale look like a good deal to the untrained eye. A good Amel rarely makes it to Yachtworld or other sites before being sold. There is a high demand for Amels in really good condition. Joel can steer you better than I.
Good luck with the search.
Mark
Mark
Congratulations on your one year anniversary. I am enjoying your blog very much. I usually read it in my personal email at work. Corporate filters don’t like your uncateorized URL; whatever that means. And lately they tell me that you are not a trusted site. I am home sick today; so I can actually comment.
I love the reassurance that when it all shakes out; boating is work! It sometimes seems like half the time spent on our boat is doing a project or cleaning or maintaining or fixing. And we are all in the same boat. It makes me laugh to hear that if you have the spare parts; likely you will not need them.
I also know that blogging is a lot of work. It requires attention to detail and a camera at the ready. Your pictures and your honesty are wonderful and I look forward to reading for another year. Thank you!
Oh, and I agree with you about the cookies!!
I so look forward to your updates. The picture alone tell such a beautiful story!
Hi Mark & Cindy!
Love the dolly thing you used for your shopping trip! That is what Ben is looking into getting. How do you like it?
Ben, Tambi and Molly
SailboatStory
Hi Tambi,
We love our hand truck set up. It is one of the best buys we made when getting ready to cruise. We get lots of compliments from other cruisers. Often it can be a hike to the store so carrying bags is often out of the question. Sidewalks are hit and miss so a wagon is a challenge. Also, we have found ramps for the handicapped to be a USA thing. Our hand truck will handle curb or a couple of steps with just one person. The Clever Crates are a little expensive but well worth the money. They are rugged. We had some other cheaper ones that fell apart. These have lasted well, so far. We also use the cart for laundry and propane etc.
We purchased the set up from Costco, but I think they no longer stock these items. Both are available on Amazon. Here are the links:
http://www.amazon.com/Magna-Personal-Capacity-Aluminum-Folding/dp/B000HVVSDU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455583137&sr=8-1&keywords=magna+cart
http://www.amazon.com/CleverMade-CleverCrates-Collapsible-Storage-Container/dp/B00UM4D5NS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455583321&sr=8-1&keywords=clever%20crates
I will also send you a PM so you have our email should you have questions about getting ready.
Mark
I’d have to agree with you about Marsh Harbour. We weren’t overwhelmed by it either – although maybe we didn’t see the right places? I read good things about Mermaid Reef, which we never went to. Maybe next time 🙂
We didn’t hear of or go to Mermaid Reef. The highlights for us was (in order) Hope Town, Treasure Cay and Green Turtle Cay. Hope town was pretty awesome.
I would love to repost your “Murhpy”s Thoughts” chart, with of course, giving you full credit. It absolutely so describes life onboard. I would add a foote-note, Murphy always has 3 successive thoughts at a time, breakdowns come in 3’s. 🙂
Donna,
Yes. Please share as much of our content as you wish. We have gotten to the point where we now buy spare parts only because we know that if we have a spare the original will never break 🙂
Mark
Ugh! Well I read with dismay and irritation on your behalf your recent post about ‘importing’ things into the Bahamas. Franky, I see a lot about that kind of stuff and it does make me feel as though since more people are cruising, locals do see this as an opportunity to make money off the rich Americans. But it’s not just the less rich countries. I just sent a package to my daughter in Scotland. It contained about 150$ worth of stuff she accidentally left behind when they flew off recently. I paid DHL 70$ to ship it there, and carefully filled in the customs form to indicate these mundane things inside. (Fedex and UPS would have both cost 117$ for the same box and couldn’t guarantee when it would be delivered. Sheesh.) The Scots withheld the package for the collection of a tax on the merchandise to the tune of 30 pounds. This is the same stuff that had she carried it in her suitcase she could have brought in free. Regressive taxes. They are everywhere. And don’t you love it when the law says one thing, and the local official says something else? Just great. But glad you can fix that head.
Mark/Cindy,
A huge congratulations to you both for getting through your first year of cruising! I’ve been following your blog from the start and very much enjoy the blog posts – please keep them coming. I compliment you on your choice of boat, the crew and the thoroughness of your preparations, which will no doubt stand to you both in your cruising years to come. I feel the last year has provided an ideal training ground for you both and now you’re ready (and in my humble opinion far more experienced than others) to explore further afield. As you mentioned in your latest post, it’s easy to miss the common comforts that are familiar to us all, but it takes a certain type of individual to seek out other rewards that are experienced by very few. I believe these new life experiences that you’ve prepared so hard to enjoy are right at your fingertips and ready to be enjoyed. My friendly advice is to immerse yourselves in cultures outside the usa and take the rest of us on the journey with you.
Safe travels & please keep the blog posts coming,
Thanks,
Paul.
Your recent post on your one year (congrats!) anniversary certainly brought up some of the conflicts I know we will face, too. In spite of the fact that I wish we’d done this 10 years ago when we were 10 years younger, I am very grateful for the many weeks we’ve spent cruising the islands and the west coast around here. On our Cal34 we had a lot of ‘learning’ time in terms of engine woes. Like the engine always seemed to die when there was no wind and we were being pushed toward the rocks, and the sun was going down. Oy. I believe Mike worked harder on our vacations than he did at his actual job. And I learned to sail that boat in extremely light winds while he was diving the engine room. Why would we ever choose this? Maybe it’s because we are easily bored. With the kids grown, and the jobs growing old, the kind of stressors cruisers deal with sound like adventures, even though I know how tired and discouraging cruising can be. I’ll let you know if I still feel that way after a couple of years out there! I understand it takes at least a year to really get used to it. Let’s see what your next year brings!
Ha! If you had done it 10 years earlier, you wouldn’t be as wise as you are now.
One thing we did not write about – this lifestyle, as you well know, really taxes the little grey cells. Nothing is simple. Being degenerate masochists, I think we sometimes enjoy this.
Thanks as always for the kind words.
Mark and Cindy
Ok, thanks for the reminder about wisdom. I’ll take that one. And yes, nothing is simple on a boat. That is for sure! I think one of the things that actually attract us to cruising is all the problem solving that goes on. Mike likes nothing better than a puzzle. I like nothing better than thinking outside the box and getting creative. Nothing is ever boring when you are problem solving boat stuff. Irritating, yes, but not boring. Frustrating and enraging, but not boring. A life well led, I suppose, comes at those costs.
Mark & Cindy
Keep living the dream for the rest of us… we still include you in the monthly conversations at the clubhouse, and frequently remind new players of the house rules (and if they don’t believe us, we’ll have Mark send them the rules) :-). Hope to see you before another year passes. Perhaps on our east coast, but if not there’s always the Abacos? Godspeed
Thank you Steve. We are toying with trip to Atlanta in the Summer (hurricane Season). Perhaps I can have an honorary seat at the table. I’ll let ya’ll know if we head that way as I’ll need a couch to crash on that night 🙂
Mark