Living The Dream

Most of them dream... We LIVE IT.

Vessel Name: Santorini
Vessel Make/Model: Mariner/Mayflower 48'
Hailing Port: Punta Gorda, Florida
Crew: Tom, Dawn, Chico & Kamala
Social:
13 August 2016 | Isla Mujeres, Mexico
28 July 2013 | Punta Gorda, FL
28 July 2013 | Punta Gorda, FL
22 April 2011 | St. Andrews Bay, Panama City, FL
21 March 2011 | Panama City, Florida
16 March 2011 | Port St. Joe, Florida
14 March 2011 | Tampa Bay, FL
12 March 2011 | Ft. Myers, Florida
11 March 2011 | Ft. Myers Beach, FL
03 March 2011 | Isla Mujeres, MX
25 February 2011 | Isla Mujeres, MX
17 February 2011 | Colon, Panama
14 February 2011 | Panama City, Panama
07 February 2011 | Panama City, Panama
05 February 2011 | Isla Toboga
02 February 2011 | Golfo de Panama
01 February 2011 | Panama
31 January 2011 | Bahia Honda to Ensenada Benao
30 January 2011 | Bahia Honda, Panama
Recent Blog Posts
13 August 2016 | Isla Mujeres, Mexico

Back in Isla Mujeres!

It's been a fast 3 years since moving to Punta Gorda, FL. Although we haven't done much sailing, we have made some very nice improvements and upgrades to Santorini. We had her hauled out for bottom paint - this time applying Petit Trinidad 75. It had been 5 years since her last paint job with Trinidad [...]

28 July 2013 | Punta Gorda, FL

Home At Last

We moved into our new house end of May 2013. Tom towed the SeaRay down and put it in storage. We made several trips down to move, but sadly left Santorini behind in Panama City, Fl until we could prepare her slip in Punta Gorda.

28 July 2013 | Punta Gorda, FL

Getting Our Freedom Back

After swallowing the anchor in Panama City, FL for 2 years we are looking forward to getting back into cruising mode. We were certainly grateful for Tom landing a job when he did - it saved us when our businesses went bust. It was tough working 8-5 M-F with 1 week of vacation after having been self-employed [...]

22 April 2011 | St. Andrews Bay, Panama City, FL

Settling In on the Gulf Coast

We had a great trip back to OC. It was wonderful to see everyone and a relief to finally move the rest of our stuff. We stopped and stayed with family and friends along the way during our trip home. We missed the kitties, and they missed us even more. Our neighbors, Don & Kelly live on a houseboat [...]

21 March 2011 | Panama City, Florida

Back to the OC

Well it's only been 4 days since we sailed into port here in Panama City, FL but we're already heading back to Orange County, CA. My friend Beth is engaged to a great guy named Alan. He happens to own a private jet. They flew in this afternoon from Key West for a short overnight visit and are returning [...]

18 March 2011 | Panama City, Florida

Mission Accomplished: Over 5000 miles in less than 5 months!

We finally made it! We sailed into St. Andrews Bay at 2 pm on St. Patrick's Day, it was a very moving experience! There's nothing like achieving a many years long goal. The people here are wonderful - everyone is SO NICE! Southern hospitality is alive and well.

Settling In on the Gulf Coast

22 April 2011 | St. Andrews Bay, Panama City, FL
We had a great trip back to OC. It was wonderful to see everyone and a relief to finally move the rest of our stuff. We stopped and stayed with family and friends along the way during our trip home. We missed the kitties, and they missed us even more. Our neighbors, Don & Kelly live on a houseboat (pictured here) in the slip next to us and were kind enough to cat sit for us. They went to Shell Island the weekend after we got back and invited us over so we took the dinghy over (about 3.5 to 4 miles). I thought I'd died and gone to heaven it was SO BEAUTIFUL!

When we arrived in PC on St. Patty's Day, Tom asked Don what he does for work: he's an electrician at Eastern Shipbuilding - one of the largest employers in the area. Tom jokingly asked: Are they hiring? Don asked Tom what he does and he told Don he's an engineer. On Friday, Don told Dave, his boss about Tom and Dave asked Don to find out if Tom is an electrical engineer - which he is. So the night before we left Dave came over and interviewed Tom over a beer on the dock. Dave said to get in touch when we returned from CA.

On April 5th he went in for interviews. It took a couple of weeks to figure out where Tom would fit best as they had engineering and project management needs. This week he started working there in the perfect position - a liaison between engineering and production. They are installing cameras on the ships they are building and asked Tom is he knew anything about the FLIR camera - of course he was very involved in the development of them!

They are very fortunate to have Captain Tom on their team, and will realize it more and more as the days go by. The last couple of years have been challenging in his industry, it's good to see him using his vast skills at a place that needs him. Meanwhile, I've been meeting people through Rotary and the Chamber of Commerce and have made some great contacts who are very interested in what I'm doing.

We are blessed. You never know what's waiting for you around the next corner - or in our case, across the country. Some times you just have to take that leap of faith. We're so glad we did.
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