Finally, our decision came down to:
An Island Packet 380, Blue Water Cruising Sailboat,
slightly used, production year 2000
We found this boat in Palmetto, Florida, in May, 2004, near Bradenton, and bought it through
Island Yachting Centre there.
These folks are just terrific to work with.
They were extremely honest and helpful in every way both before and after the sale.
We still stay in touch with Ed Whiteaker there.
These photos were taken before the actual purchase, when we were having it surveyed.
The rudder has
been removed
Here is the layout
plan of the 380
We visited the Island Packet production facility near St Petersburg, Florida, while making our decision.
Soon we became convinced that this was
the boat in which we would feel most comfortable sailing the world and living aboard.
We were most impressed with the attention
to every detail and the information they so freely gave us while viewing every step of the construction process from
the fiberglass strands to the varnish on the finished product.
Every Island Packet owner we talked to seemed to do backflips over this particular yacht
and now we see why!!!
Boat Interior
Nav Station
The sailing isn't so intimidating to us, but it's a different
story with all the electronics and other equipment like water maker, generator, engine, propane, 2 a/c units,
washer/dryer [wow], and power bank. They will be challenging to learn about for a while and we have many books
to study and much fiberglass to polish!!! We also plan to install 2 solar panels very soon to rely on the
sun to charge the system but have to learn all about that first, too.
At that time, we planned to work like crazy and become familiar with this vessel quickly so we could leave Florida within 90 days before we would have to pay $15,000 in state taxes. As we have been legally advised to do, we can return in 6 months and register it in Florida but for the first few months we then planned to sail the east coast and wander around.
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