Catching Up!

Gosh, time flies! We vacationed in the Dominican Republic the last week in February. We stayed in Punta Cana on the northwest coast at an all-inclusive.  We have been to many Caribbean islands and honestly this isn't one we would go back to. Others love it, it wasn't our favorite.

However, we did spend some time on the water and their water is definitely Caribbean blue! We snorkeled, played on a sand bar and swam with reef sharks and sting rays. The boat excursions took us to the northern coast of the island.

Along the northern coast of the island, a HUGE reef runs along the coast. Because of this, all boats travel between shore (very shallow waters) and the reef. I would hate to run into it in the middle of the night. I actually had just finished "Black Wave" on this trip and the reef freaked me out!

The sandbar was fun, but very crowded and sadly the reef sharks and sting rays are caged up for tourists. Not a fan of that at all.

But the waters were stunning and gorgeous!

As you can see, I had plenty of reading materials by the pool!  My carry on bag must have weighed over 10 pounds with all of the magazines!

We did some other land excursions on this trip and the cave tours were probably the coolest thing. They have many many caves that will take you all under the island and out to the sea. Super cool!

So we got back from vacation and finally met with our boat broker. We have begun the process of looking for a boat. Yes, after six years it is finally happening!  Remember, we are no longer looking for a live-aboard, but rather a smaller older boat we can get comfortable with and get our sea legs (well, get my sea legs back).  We are looking at both sedans (motor yacht style) and sport cruisers (better for outdoor activities).  Most likely, we will go with a sport cruiser, as a newer model will be more affordable. Some of the most popular sport cruisers around here are Sea Ray, Bayliner, Four Winns and Larson. 

One thing about the PNW, is we are the Bayliner capital. While they have a bad rap on the East Coast, they are everywhere here. In fact, I used to own a Bayliner Ciera years ago and it was a great boat. We know that the boat we buy, will not be long term for us - either we will hate it and get rid of it, or we will love it and want to upgrade to a larger boat. So we are not spending too much energy or resources on this boat. We want to make sure any boat we buy has a great engine and is structurally sound. Luckily I have a captain in my family to help us!

So stay tuned for the next update! Cheers, Scott and Ally