The Ocean Posse sends a HUGE thank you out to all people who participated in our survey earlier this month.ย Our goal is to improve our posse and our benefits and it is happening!ย As promised one lucky survey responder has won a $250 gift card.
AND THE WINNER IS…
HEATHER JOHNSON
Heather has graciously accepted her $250 gift card that she plans to use to transfer boats parts from her Amazon wishlist to her cart.ย Describing herself she writes:
My husband and I own SV Consort, a 1986 Endeavour 42, a slight upgrade from our 19′ Flying Scot that we sailed and raced in Central Illinois. We originallyย became interested in sailing while on a vacation in St. Maarten when we took a snorkeling tour aboard a catamaran. While everyone was sitting in the back getting seasick I was sitting on the trampolineย laughing and having a blast as we crashed through the waves, catching air, and getting covered in salt! The next day, while sitting poolsideย I commented to my husband that I’d like to learn how to sail. So, when we returned to Central IL, (I know, not exactly a place known for great sailing) we found a local sailing club and signed up for a Learn to Sail class. We enjoyed it so much we started sailing Lasers, Sunfish, Thistles, Flying Scots, and any boat we could crew on. Unfortunately, theย sailing season in Illinois is rather short, as were the boats we were sailing on. We thought that maybe it was time for an upgrade. While we were in Florida for a Flying Scot regatta we decided to start looking at cruising vessels that would offer us a warm, winter retreat. I’d been watching listings on all the sites trying to study the market and find the boat that met our list of wants, needs, and must haves. Since we were in Florida it seemed reasonable to start looking at boats in person but we were NOT ready to buy yet…so we thought. We were in Cocoa Beach and getting ready to depart for a long, boring drive back to cold, wintery, Illinois when my husband said, “It’s too bad that boat Consort isn’t still for sale.” Well, it WAS still for sale and the price had just dropped so instead of driving to IL we turned South and drove to Ft. Lauderdale where we saw SV Consort in person after salivating over her online for a couple months.ย
Yes, we had no intention of buying a boat yet but the moment we saw Consort we knew she was our boat. She checked all the boxes and it just felt right. We spent the next two days driving back to Illinois trying to talk ourselves out of buying her but in the end, we knew it was the right choice. Five and a half years later, we still love her as much and I’m grateful we listened to our guts.ย
We’ve been cruising between the Bahamas and South Florida for the past 5 years. Many people ask why we don’t go further South but we have absolutelyย fallen in love with the islands of the Bahamas and the people there. We have friends we visit on different islands every year and are always greeted with “Welcome Home” and we are treated like family. After sailing the islands for five years we’re still discovering new islands, finding remote anchorages, meeting new people, and we look forward to visiting every year.ย
