The Decision

The decision to buy a “new” sailboat was easy, the decision on where to buy it from was the tricky part. We had a list of features we really wanted on the new sailboat including features that would help us sail longer as we age. The feature list led us on a search to find a Beneteau Oceanis Odyssey 42CC.

Our original intent was to purchase the sailboat in Europe and sail it back to the Caribbean with Chuck’s children helping us crew. Chuck looked at boats almost every night and finding some pretty good deals in Croatia. He also found out that a lot of European boats would need to be rewired to be used in the U.S. So he changed his search to the U.S. last fall.

In October 2017, we took a trip to Annapolis, Maryland to the world’s largest sailboat show. It was exciting – hundreds of boats all set up in the Annapolis harbor – beautiful! You would walk on the dock to floating platforms, where a company would have their “exhibit” of new model boats tied off so you could enter the stern of each without leaving their “booth”. We looked at dozens of boats – very modern, lots of light, and very expensive!

While we were in Annapolis, we also made appointments with boat dealers to look at used Beneteau Oceanis Odyssey 42CCs which were in a harbor near where we were staying. We loved the boat (see photo below)! The way it was built with a center cockpit would be great for the ocean, not to mention Lake Superior on cold, summer days. The boat had many features that Chuck liked and the cabin was laid out the way we both wanted it. Plus it had a guest stateroom, which would be fun when friends join us.

The search was on to locate a Beneteau Oceanis Odyssey 42CC. Chuck found several – the one in Maryland we looked at, one in New Jersey, and one that popped up late last fall – in Kenosha, Wisconsin of all places. It was the Tiger Lilly, it had a beautiful blue hull, and the owners kept it stored over the winter in a heated storage facility and it had never been in salt water!

We jumped in the car on one of our days off in late October to go see it. It was perfect. The owners just had it completely buffed and it was sparkling. We climbed on board inside the storage facility and looked around. The boat was being sold as is so all of the furnishings, sails, lines, tools, everything was included in the sale. Great, we’ll take it! And the adventure begins.