Our Hélia, Fat Iguana, is scheduled to leave port in La Rochelle, France on her trans-Atlantic journey early next week. It's about a 5-6 week sail to Annapolis for commissioning here.

Getting exciting.

To those who posted comments: sorry I didn't respond or acknowledge. I just "found" them today.

Why did we decide on the Hélia?

We're catamaran people. We are in to comfort. We don't want our sailing to be like camping. Catamarans have more space, more amenities, they sail flat so you're not leaning way over just to stand up all the time. There's less rocking & rolling in anchorages at night. You can set things on the counter without them falling off all the time.

We looked at new and used. For us, the idea of buying new and putting the boat in charter for several years before we take it over full-time makes the most financial sense. After getting on a few catamarans, we decided that about a 44 foot boat was a good size for us for eventual full-time living.

Realistically, 44 foot new boats in that range come down to Fountaine Pajot, Lagoon, and Leopard. There are others, but most are either "custom" boats, home built boats, or very expensive. The three I mention above are the big "production" boats -- the Fords & Chevys.

We sailed on a Lagoon & FP. We never sailed the Leopard, but have been on one at the Annapolis boat show. We were actually supposed to do our first cruise on a Leopard 44, but it wasn't delivered in time. As it turns out, we weren't really impressed with layout of the boat. We didn't think much of the forward cockpit that is a major feature of that boat and makes the saloon quite a bit smaller.

We did sail on a Lagoon 440. While we liked the boat, it's a very heavy boat and we weren't impressed with the performance under sail. While we kind of liked the flybridge helm station while sailing -- it did make it impossible for the helmsman to interact with people on other areas of the boat (cockpit & saloon).

We then sailed the FP Orana 44 -- the version before the Hélia. Loved it. Loved the boat, loved the interior layout. MUCH better performance under sail than the Lagoon. We had heard great things about FP's new design, the Hélia. We got to see one in person at Annapolis and fell in love. It's a fantastic boat with performance said to be equal or better than the Orana.

We found the boat that we feel is perfect for us.

We thought a lot...we bought it!!

I know we're going to be thrilled with this boat...

Can't wait to get it!!

We did it!! We bought a boat!!

Today, Jen & I started our journey. We put down our downpayment on a Fountaine Pajot Hélia-44 sailing catamaran.

We're still a long way from taking off and sailing around the world. We still have to work and get five more kids off to college first, but today was a big step.

Our boat, Fat Iguana, will be completed at the factory in France in early February of 2013. It then sails to Annapolis, arriving in early April. Local commissioning is next. That takes 6-8 weeks. We expect to get the completed boat in early June.

Fat Iguana will then go into charter for a few months in Annapolis. In October, it'll be sailed to its semi-permanent home in the Sea of Abaco in the Bahamas where in will be in the charter fleet at Cruise Abaco.

If all goes well, sometime in the future, we'll take it over as our (early) retirement home and become full-time(ish) cruisers!!

Sure, a bank wire transfer in Kearney, NE doesn't seem much of a sailing story - but for us, it's the beginning of a journey...