We survived ten gruelling days of post ARC Rally celebrations in St. Lucia and finally started heading north on the last leg of our season’s journey. With nice trade wind conditions forecast, we were hoping to island hop through the Leeward Isles and make it to the Virgin islands in time for Christmas. The first day’s hop, in perfect sailing conditions, was a short sail over to a lovely little bay called Grande Anse on the neighboring Island of Matinique-just enough to get our sea legs.
Even though we have another season or two of cruising left in us, we have put Moonshadow on the market. She is in excellent overall condition, having been lovingly cared for by just two owners and meets stringent Category I requirements for ocean racing. Moonshadow has just completed an unforgettable 16 year circumnavigation. She lies ready for new “caretakers” who wish to live the cruising lifestyle to the fullest and take her for a second safe, fast and comfortable lap around the planet or just enjoy some easy liveaboard cruising. The listing information can be found at Yacht Council ID#105614.
Mooshadow heads through the 17th St. Bridge in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
At 1030 hours yesterday, Moonshadow passed under the 17th St. Bridge in Ft. Lauderdale closing the loop on the circumnavigation I started here in November of 1994. Since then I have covered approximately 70,000 nautical miles and visited around 40 countries on our (mostly) westabout course. The destination has always been the journey and I am happy but sad that this part of the journey has come to an end.
I owe the accomplishment of this acheievement to my best friend and fiancee, Merima “the Admiral”, who joined me on this odyssy in Australia in 2005 and herself has logged more than 25,000 nautical miles (more than a circumnavigation). Without her strength, determination, companionship, skills and hard work, I would never have made it this far.
The cake Merima made for our quiet little celebration last evening.
As difficult as it may be after all the miles and memories, we plan to put Moonshadow up for sale. While we fully intend to continue cruising and racing, our cruising profile will change a bit from the long-distance blue water stuff we’ve been doing to more localised cruising around New Zealand and perhaps a few other parts of the world that we’ve really enjoyed over the years. We hope to find someone who will continue to love and care for and enjoy her as much as we have for the past 16-1/2 years.
We had a rather fast trip up from St. Lucia to the States, so we’ll fill you in on that after we put Moonshadow away for the winter and get a bit more time.
Here are some photos of the ARC Rally.
Moonshadow romps across Rodney Bay to be the 19th yacht to finish the ARC Trans-Atlantic Rally out of 233 starters.
Recent Comments