The Short Story:

We sold Polaris the second week of December 2011.


The 'Slightly' Longer Version:

We had an offer on Polaris from a buyer the first week of December. After a couple of days of back-and-forth negotiations we accepted the deal. With most boat sales after the magic number is agreed upon a check is presented and the title transfers. Polaris decided she didn't want to leave us so she took a little longer to say her goodbyes....bless her heart.

When our Broker in Florida went to process our paperwork to close the deal it turned out our US Coast Guard Abstract (like a title for a house) still had our original loan listed on it as not satisfied even though we had paid it off back in 1999.

Our original loan was through a bank that had been purchased by another bank in 1998. When we requested our loan satisfaction the new bank said they had no record of our loan. Oops!!

It took almost a month to get everything finalized, and those few weeks were not without their drama. With us being in Thailand, the boat in Florida and our paperwork on the loan in a safety deposit box in Oregon, or in boxes of important stubs in Arizona or Minnesota, it was starting to look like Ken was headed back to the States on a scavenger hunt.

But like most everything related to Polaris has been for us...it all worked out okay in the end. No trip stateside just a few stressful weeks of wonder before the new bank searched their storage bowels and came up with what was needed.

Polaris' new owners are John and Marina Mayton, a lovely father and daughter team. John was out cruising before there was any such thing as GPS and swallowed the hook many years ago. He and his wife named their daughter after where she was born. Marina's grown up now and decided she wants to go cruising with her dad. We hope Polaris is as good to them as she was to us. They have renamed Polaris Kittiwake and sailed her to her new home in North Carolina, where they will tweak her to fit their own needs prior to beginning the cruising life.

They say the best 2 days in a boat owner's life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it. With us it didn't work out that way. We had so many great days on Polaris that we could never figure out the best day. And the day she was sold would be categorized as nothing short of bittersweet.

We thought in this marketplace with thousands of boats on the market and few buyers (and no bank credit available) that the bridge back to Polaris would always be open to us. To say we were major-surprised to sell our boat is an understatement. With no mast in our life any longer things have already changed.

If you hadn't noticed, we've renamed our blog. As our last posting stated, we're still on the same cruising schedule. Out of the US during our regular winter cruising season living an alternative lifestyle and then back stateside during the summer visiting family and friends. The only real difference is our method of travel.

No tears over Polaris, only smiles as we remember where she took us and who she connected us with. We're rich in friends because of her and will always remember how she adorned so many chapters of our life.

So long sweet Polaris. Hello land cruising.