We did it – we bought a sailboat in Greece!!! After months of searching and years of preparation Steve and I are officially the owners of a sailboat. We are so excited we are going to burst.
All the planning and packing and downsizing that we have been doing in the past year and we have finally done it. We leave next month to live onboard fulltime. OMG!
How it began
Let’s pause, step back for a moment and start from the beginning. Back in 2016 we set off to explore Europe. Our girls had all left our home and didn’t need us anymore. In fact, we had been telling them when they turned 18, we were leaving home. So, we did! We packed all of our remaining belongings into storage and set off. You can read all about it here. <insert link> We travelled to Singapore, Germany, Italy, France and Spain then the UK and Malaysia. What we learnt along the way was we kept coming back to the water. Whether it was the river or ocean, we just kept coming back to it. That’s when Steve had a FOBO. A flash of the blindingly obvious. If we keep coming back to the water, why don’t we buy a boat and explore via the sea? That’s how our search began.
While working fulltime back in Perth, Steve spent hours researching and searching for just the right sailboat for us. He travelled to Portugal and the UK and together we took a trip to Adelaide and Sydney to look at sailboats.
Then he found one in Preveza, Greece. We poured over photographs and information from the agent before booking our tickets for Greece. We even put down a deposit to avoid it being bought from under us as happened with another boat. We spent a week yep, a total of seven days flying to Athens, driving across country to Lefkada, Greece to view this boat and then back again. In fact, that drive is another good story – read it here. <insert link>
Viewing the boat in Greece
We got to see the boat for the first time with the agent on 2 October 2019. It was sitting pretty on the hard in a Preveza boat yard. It was overwhelming and made the journey and our plans that much more real and exciting.
We spent a few hours going over every part of the boat and asking questions of the agent.
We took the opportunity before leaving Perth to find and book a local boat surveyor to look over the boat the next day. We didn’t have time to do sea trials during our trip, so the opinion of the surveyor was what we based our decision to buy the boat on. Plus, the fact owners sailed the boat each summer in Greece before putting in back on the hard over winter over the past 10 years.
Now, this guy was legit. He was so detail-focused and precise about going over every section of the boat. Truly amazing. Plus, he liked having us following him around and asking questions. It was an eye-opening, fascinating and fun day. By the end of it we felt comfortable with our choice to proceed.
We bought a sailboat in Greece
On 18 October 2019 we officially became owners of a Moody 38 sailboat. Yipee!!
All our stuff is being shipped to Lefkada, Greece and we will be on the boat by late November.
There is so much to do before then, but we are very excited about this new adventure.
