If you know one thing about boats, just one thing, it's that they're expensive. Whether or not you get a screaming deal on the purchase price, they'll end up costing you one way or another.

We knew what we were getting ourselves into, and it was worth it. It is worth it. At least, that's what I told myself when we handed over checks for the insurance, registration, sales tax, slip rent, new cushion fabric, and a roller furling unit. 

It's worth it.

I'm really, really excited to see where this boat will take us, and what kind of sailors it'll make us into. 

Sailing is a new venture for me, one that Garrett has brought into my life. Neither of us grew up sailing, but we did both grow up with a strong appreciation of the water. Garrett bought his first sailboat, a MacGregor 23', when we were in college. He and my dad painstakingly drove it cross-country from Michigan to Rhode Island, where it spent a happy summer in East Greenwich. It was the first time that I ever set foot on a sailboat. 

Garrett's passion for sailing grew during his college summers spent working at the Newport Shipyard. Endless hours of wax on, wax off didn't deter his love of boats; instead, it fueled it.

Fast forward six years to when Garrett and I moved to San Francisco, and we asked ourselves, "what makes us happy?" And both of us answered, "water." That's when we started planning on buying a sailboat.

It took about two years to find the right one, and every minute spent searching was worth it. We love our Rafiki 35'. 

In the below episode, we cover some of the tasks mentioned above (registering the boat, picking out new boat fabric, etc.), cleaning up Thisldu's teak, and taking her out for our first double-handed cruise together. Thanks for watching!