Testing The Waters

Now that we know we are selling our house, we need to figure out where we are going to live. Real estate is so expensive right now so we found ourselves asking what where we could live for a period of time without overpaying a mortgage or rent. A boat quickly become a very attractive option.

Before committing to buying a boat, we thought it would be prudent to actually learn how to sail and spend time on a boat that is similar to what we’d be looking to buy. In comes Blue Water Sailing School in Fort Lauderdale. Ironically, it’s in the same exact marina where we took off to Bimini nine years ago.

We are signed up for the A+ Cat: Bareboat Catamaran Skipper training. The seven-day, six-night course allows you to live aboard and sail with a captain and two other students. Throughout the week, you get hands-on instruction and take four American Sailing Association (ASA) exams. At the end of the course, you earn ASA 101: Basic Sailing, ASA 103: Basic Coastal Cruising, ASA 104: Bareboat Chartering and ASA 114: Cruising Catamaran certifications, assuming you pass the practical and written exams.

If we spend a week on a boat with three complete strangers and come away still thinking a catamaran is a practical option, it’ll be meant to be.