How We Bought a Sailing Yacht (Without Being Rich) #yachtieworld #sailboat #boatlife #travel

I’m Kayleigh, this is James — and this is our sailboat Mon Ami, a 41-foot Jeanneau Sun Legende from 1987. But how exactly did we end up here? Well, we met back in 2020 — just weeks before the world went crazy during the pandemic. So, instead of being locked down, we jumped in our four-wheel drives and drove across the country. First stop: the infamous Telegraph Track on the Cape York peninsula. From there, we continued west through sand, dirt, and endless corrugations — camping under the stars in the Northern Territory, dreaming about what big adventure we could go on next. And that’s where we first spoke about buying a sailboat. As we drove on, we had mud spas, surfed with new friends, and eventually crossed into Western Australia — ending up in Exmouth, the place that became our home for nearly three years. We settled in, found jobs and the dream of owning a boat finally started to become real. So with this goal in mind, we worked as much as we could and even spent a whole year living in a swag, which we called rent-free 2023. James — or Gibbo — was working as a deckhand on the whale shark boats, later moving to the tugs, while I worked as a sea kayak guide. We were both pulling 12-hour days for weeks at a time, saving every dollar we could. In between our work, we even managed to afford a budget holiday to new Zealand where we cycled our bikes across the entire country and lived in our tent - but that’s a story for another day. We started to look at yachts online and noticed there wasn’t a huge variety in WA. So we packed up once again (minus the Suzuki) and drove 6,000 kilometres back to Queensland — across the vast Nullarbor Plain, where we broke down, ate many jaffles, and even picked up a joey along the way - another reminder to always check the pouch! After looking at a few fixer-uppers, we finally saw a listing for Mon Ami.. and well, the rest is history.. We spent our first few months sailing around Moreton Bay, learning the ropes — literally — and getting to know our new boat. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing: we found diesel bug cappuccino, leaking hatches, and a badly corroded rudder post that forced a haul-out. As new boat owners, this wasn’t exactly how we wanted to spend our time. We fixed, polished and anti fouled the boat before, quitting our jobs and moving aboard full time in April. It’s now the end of September — and we’ve sailed nearly 2,000 nautical miles along the Queensland coast. Along the way, we’ve welcomed friends aboard, explored remote reefs, and sailed alongside giants. It’s been a pretty wild ride — with some of the best moments, and some of the toughest. But the journey’s not over yet - and we’d love to take you along for the rest of this adventure… and every one after that.

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Cool float planes in downtown Juneau, Alaska. Sea planes. #floatplaneinalaska #floatplane #meandthekiwi

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Raymarine claims their new Dragonfly fish finder is a "whole new breed" of fish finder/chartplotter, as opposed to simply being a next-generation model like the e-series they introduced the year before last. That's a pretty bold claim, and it was put to the test when Raymarine pitted the Dragonfly against 14 of the hottest new electronics on the market, by competing in the 2013 NMMA Innovations awards last week. Net result? The Dragonfly won. http://features.boats.com/boat-content/2013/02/raymarine-dragonfly-a-whole-new-breed-of-fish-finder/ For more videos about marine electronics, visit www.boats.com.

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Exploring the Banda sea with Vaiatea liveaboard will let you discover an archipelago of 11 islands spread across the central Maluku region in eastern Indonesia, the Banda Islands (owing to its other name, the 'Spice Islands'). With Vaiatea Liveaboard, courageous divers are heading to the Banda Sea to experience extraordinary diving without the crowds. The diving in the Banda Sea is extraordinary, with pristine coral reefs topped with explosions of marine life, including clouds of fusiliers, jacks, dogtooth tuna, redtooth triggerfish, spinner dolphins, pilot whales, and great hammerheads, to name but a few. Photographers will love the muck diving in Ambon Bay. They can spot the psychedelic frogfish while steep drop-offs, seamounts, peaceful coral gardens, thrilling channels, and a smattering of coral-encrusted wrecks are also on the agenda. For booking or inquiries: info@vaiatea-liveaboard.com For full information: https://www.vaiatea-liveaboard.com/ #liveaboard #liveaboardindonesia #indonesia #rajampat #komodonationalpark #komodo #alor #privatecharter #boatcharter #luxury #vaiatealiveaboard #halmahera #tritonbay