We have been sailing for all of our married life, which will be 35 years this year, 2013. Sharon grew up in Virginia and I in Texas and neither of us knew anything about sailing when we bought our first boat. Learning by trial and error, mostly error at first, has been fun. [...]We've moved up in size with each new boat and are very happy with our Beneteau 461. She was a charter boat in the BVI when we bought her and sailed her home to Pensacola, FL in 2009. We've gotten to know her over the last few years while cruising the Gulf coast and racing occasionally. Last year we raced in the Regata del Sol al Sol from St Petersburg, FL to Isla Mujeres, Mx and then took our time cruising her back home via the Dry Tortugas, Key West and all along the western shore of Florida. We are currently completing some upgrades to our electronics and preparing for a trip to the Bahamas this fall after hurricane season.