She's finally here!

It's fair to say that we did a bit of planning before buying the boat. Copious amounts of YouTube video watching, lots of googling, and plenty of saving. We created this wall in our apartment in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi to remind us of what we were striving for. Largely because we were cooped up from two sets of 14 day quarantines after flights home to visit family with tracker bracelets fitted so it kept us busy, focussed and sane. It really helped focussing on all the places we would see, the route we would take and how long it would be til we got there. Check out the Blue Peter totaliser and countdown flipchart! Of course, Brexit would cut those destinations by at least half (don't get me started) but there was plenty to look forward to.

A small part of our decision to buy a new boat was the experience of seeing her made, being involved in the process and following her to the water when she finally splashed. We'd seen others on YouTube do it and it looked really cool. Alas, thanks to covid, none of that happened. We were originally going to collect her in Les Sables d'Olonne in France where she was made. There was a fair amount of ex-factory work that we wanted to have fitted (solar arch and panels, lithium batteries, water maker, generator, underwater lights etc.) and there were options to get it all done in France. We could then set off from there towards the Med. I was keen, but when we talked to Ancasta, our Lagoon dealer in the Hamble, UK, he told us of a really good company in the UK that did everything we wanted. We thought, as we were there we would pop by and talk to them. Well, my first impression of Toby from Keto Marine was formulated when he told me I was an idiot if I did not bring our boat back from France to get the work done in the UK. Obviously I was ready to walk out the door at that point, Carl always says I can't hide any emotion from my face, it tells it all. Toby must have picked up on it and offered for us to see what he was doing for another yacht. He geeked me over. I saw how passionate he was about the work he did, how clued up on the tech he was and how he supported the clients he'd had. He was only a WhatsApp call away. The decision was made. She was coming home. Also a great opportunity for family to see her before she left UK waters.

August 2021 she was on her way. The delivery crew from Halcyon Yachting sent us this fantastic video of her crossing the Bay of Biscay

It really did not sink in that this boat was ours for quite a while. We moved onto her permanently on the 14th September 2021. Little did we know that we would be in the Hamble for longer than expected...

[P.S. the first six months have been a bit of a blur. We hope to post a little more real time than this in the future!]