This is my first post of my new adventure - sailing with friends in the 2015 Baja Ha Ha, the 2016 Pacific Puddle Jump, and beyond. So, a little background to start with.....

My dream of sailing the trade winds to far off tropical places began while sailing down the West Coast from Tacoma, WA to Newport Beach, CA as a deliver crew on a new custom ocean racer. That was 1975, and there wasn't much chance of me cruising the tropics anytime in the near future. I was broke, putting myself through college, and having plenty of fun racing 26' Thunderbird keel boats around Puget Sound.
Fast forward to 1992. I now had a real job, a lovely wife & family, and a little jingle in my pocket. So I talked my friend Ken into a partnership, and we bought a classic cruiser, the Cal 29. Five years later, we morph into a larger Cal 33, then a Beneteau 373 after that. As I neared retirement, I knew the Bene was not the blue water boat I yearned for, so the search for the perfect boat began. At the 2009 Seattle Boat show, we found out our idea of the perfect boat was available, but not affordable! So I called my yacht broker, and asked him to explore the "art of the possible". After many discussions, he helped me refine my requirements and we began looking for a good blue water boat that would sail well, was affordable, had a "real keel", and a "real mainsail" (i.e., no in-mast furling).
After years' of looking, we decided on a well used '99 Jeanneau 45.2 with a deep keel and a roller furling mainsail. More about that RF main later. The Jeanneau had been rejected by us at first look, but we warmed up to her by focusing on her potential. We found out later, that friends had passed on her as well due to her dismal appearance. As a serious DIYer, I knew what I was in for, but it would be the largest project I had taken on. So, in February 2011 we became the new owners of the 218th build of this four cabin, two head ex-charter boat. All I kept thinking was – wow, I need to get started on a total refit. Let the work begin!
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