S/V Green Heart

Our New Home

After four year of living on the road, we were ready for a new adventure. We were comfortable RVing and still having fun, but ready for a new challenge.  We talked about many different choices but the one that stayed on the top of the list was the Great Loop.

The Great Loop is a system of waterways that encompasses the eastern portion of the United States and part of Canada. It is made up of both natural and man-made waterways, including the Atlantic and Gulf Intracoastal Waterways, the Great Lakes, the Rideau Canal, and the Mississippi and Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.The entire loop is approximately 6,000 miles long. - Wikipedia 

Process of Buying a Boat 

If we were going to do the Great Loop the first thing we needed was a boat. We began our search for a boat in early Spring.  The purchase of buying a boat was anything but easy or fast. The first boat we looked at was filled with about 3 feet of water throughout the cabin. Things did improve from there. Dustin spent hours on Yacht World. Power boat vs sailboat. We decided for us a sailboat would best fit our family and our budget. 

Finding S/V Green Heart 

We first looked at our boat in April. We fell in love with all the space, the head room and the three cabins. The boat was in Michigan and being April it was still on the hard (the ground).It needed some work but we quickly fell in love with the boat.  After months of negotiation and fixing some items from the survey we had done the boat was finally ours. Dustin sailed it home at the end of June. 

Making it Our Home 

Once we arrived in port we got to work and moved aboard right away. I quickly learned boats and RV's are similar in many ways but differ in many as well. We had a TON of storage space in the RV. In the boat there is lots of storage but it is under a bed or under the couch and not easy to access. Keeping it simple works best on the boat. I have purchased many collapsible items, make sure things have multiple uses and have bought a new meaning to minimalist.  

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain.