We start our cruising updates about a year into the project.

Last April, 2008, we traveled the US east coast looking for a boat that would suffice our needs for a voyage to the Caribbean and then to the Mediterranean. Working with a broker from Beaufort, NC we climbed aboard and crawled through many boats in the 40 to 45 foot range. We found a Moody 422 that cought our fancy but seemed a bit pricey and had an engine that probably needed replacement. But the Moody seemed interesting so after returning home we searched the Yachting World web site for other Moody's and found a model 425 with a slightly different iinterior design. Another trip, this time to Florida, and we liked what we saw. The boat's name was Lucky Bird, a 1990 Moody 425 in need of work but seemingly sound. The surveyor's report gave us lots of projects but no show stoppers.

Negotiating with the owner then living in Europe was simplified by the Florida based broker who had shown us the boat and managed the sea trials. So after several weeks Lucky Bird became ours and her first trip was on a flat-bed truck back home to Chicago where she sits today as we work on the extensive to-do list.