Our friend Joel is looking to buy a boat. Even more exciting, he and his partner Shlomit are thinking of living aboard. That may not sound like such a grand adventure to many of you, but this has been a dream of Joel's for many years. As so often happens, his life got caught up in family and career and it wasn't until he'd weathered a divorce, his kids had grown and he retired that he could seriously consider making that dream come true.

There is something magical about watching a person step away from society's demands and make the brave step to follow his heart. That's why Manny and I have made several trips up to the Mediterranean coast this winter to help Joel choose a boat. In between trips, we exchange emails and chat on skype. As we hear all about the ups and downs of the search, we remember the high anxiety of finding just the right boat.

Today most boat searches are done online. In the wink of an eye you can determine the market value of any particular boat, compare layouts and inventories, read customer reviews and even contact current owners of similar boats. So it has been particularly annoying to discover internet problems of late.

In fact all of our neighbours are experiencing similar problems. It took a while but finally we found the answer. It's all those Iphones and androids out there
clogging the cyber waves. Our marina is in a lagoon surrounded by hotels and when those hotels fill up, there are literally thousands of guests logging on and surfing the net. That leaves Eilat's liveaboard community in a pickle. In this modern world we all are becoming dependant on the internet to connect with our worldwide circle of friends.

And speaking of friends, these past couple of months when we did get online, our inbox has been busy with emails from readers of this blog. It's always exciting to hear from people around the world and we've really enjoyed your comments. Even more surprising has been the several emails we've received from folks looking to buy a Fortune 30. Over the years we have communicated with a few people asking for a personal opinion on the Fortune 30 design, but we've never had so many people contact us in such a short time.



Early February, we heard from Mark and Katie who are currently living in Montana but looking to cruise the Sea of Cortez. They even set up a blog to journal their search. At some point they found a Fortune 30 for sale in San Carlos Mexico and wrote us. At this point they were only searching online brokers and relying on internet pictures and descriptions so they were interested in some first hand analysis. We checked out the broker's listing and exchanged a few emails. Mark is a tall guy and he was concerned about head room. I got out our tape measure and measured the Vberth and the standing room in the cabin. In the end they decided to buy a Pearson Triton, more because it was closer to being ready to sail than cabin height.

Then in March we heard from an English lad who told us that he was being given a Fortune 30 in order to do a single handed, non stop, unassisted circumnavigation to raise funds for the Royal British Legion. He said that the boat he was looking at had sailed the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans and he wondered if we could send him plans or if we could think of anything in particular that he should know about the boat. We did send him the study plans and we did ask him for a picture to post on our blog, but we haven't heard from him since. That certainly is one big challenge and we wish him well wherever he is.

Only five days later we found an email from Neil in Alaska. Neil was looking at a Fortune 30 for sale that he wanted to sail 300 miles off the Alaskan coast to his island summer home. He was interested in the Fortune's offshore capabilities and specifically our opinion of the keel rudder formation compared to say a Westsail 32. We exchanged emails and then referred him to a thread in the sailnet forum on the Fortune 30. Bob Perry who was involved in drawing the boats' plans has been active on that thread and we thought he'd be the right person to comment on the keel rudder formation.

Bob Perry quelled any worries assuring Neil that the Fortune 30 was not a radical departure from the classic designs. If you are interested you can read the whole thread here It's quite a good read. We're still not sure if Neil is going to buy the boat, but it's been very interesting to hear from him.

Before we could sit back and wonder at all this interest in the Fortune 30, we got yet another email, this time from Fraser on the West coast of Scotland. He has just bought a Fortune 30 and wanted to ask some questions from people who knew the boat. Did we sail Yofy as a cutter or a sloop? Did we have the sail plans for the boat? We were happy to send him a copy of the sail plans and what other information we have on the Fortune 30.

Fraser told us that this Fortune 30, Solitaire had sailed the Pacific three times and has charts aboard for a lot of the Atlantic Arctic - Iceland, north Norway, Spitzbergen and so on leaving him to believe that she had sailed the high northern latitudes as well.

Aboard Yofy it's an exciting day when we receive an email from another Fortune 30 owner. In our corner of the woods, this design is an oddity. So imagine our pleasure at chatting with so many different sailors from around the world. Perhaps all this renewed interest means that the Fortune 30 is having a comeback!

And now it seems that after months of searching, Joel may have found his heart's desire. He's signed a pre purchase agreement and last week, Manny flew up north to inspect the boat's hull. As I write this, Joel and Shlomit are in the throws of closing a deal and sitting on tenderhooks wondering if everything will go smoothly. We've got our fingers crossed for them. Buying your first boat really is a big moment.

So for Joel, Shlomit, Mark, Katie, Neil and Fraser, we hope your new boats bring you much pleasure and a summer of unforgettable memories.