Finding S/V BeBe

5th Jul 2005 - 12th Jul 2005
Finding Kismet & Realizing Security (later renamed to be S/V BeBe)

In March 2005 we were in St. Martin and anchored next to an Amel SM2. We had admired this model boat for several years, so Bill got in the dinghy and went over to visit the Amel--just to tell the owner how much we admired his boat. That short dinghy ride changed our lives.

Bill returned to our boat and brought me over to also visit the owners on the Amel. We visited with the owners, Rich and Carol Roberts, for a few hours. When we left their boat, Rich gave us a handshake agreement to allow us the right of first refusal should they ever decide to sell S/V Carol Ann. Imagine our surprise when we received an email from Rich just a month later saying that they were ready to sell. Of course, we immediately agreed to purchase this lovely yacht.

We had been planning to refit our Beneteau 461 and sail the Caribbean for a few years. Instead, we would be able to sail anywhere in the world on the Amel with no refit requirements whatsoever. The boat was perfect as she sat, except for a few new electronics that we would add. We quickly sold our Beneteau, which was leaving The Moorings BVI charter fleet effective July 1, 2005. We flew down to BVI on July 1st and turned S/V dot com over to her new owners from Scotland. We enjoyed ten days on the Amel during this BVI visit. Rich and Carol have written a sales contract with us and we have placed funds in escrow, but they want one more family winter cruise in January before we close on this sale. This works out very good for us because Bill cannot take early retirement from his employer until April 28, 2006.

Everything is on schedule for us to move aboard full-time on May 1, 2006.

Judy