97: BOAT UPDATE! OUR JOURNEY TO OUR 2015 Leopard 44 Catamaran BEGINS

Finally, after planning, preparing and studying for four months, Eileen and I are on our way to St. Lucia to undergo two weeks of quarantine and then close on our 2015 Leopard 44 catamaran which we are buying from Moorings Sunsail brokerage and are naming “Blown Away”! Come along with us as we lay out a bird’s eye view of what the next crucial two months looks like and stay tuned for future videos where we drill down deeper into each stage and progression of journey with all of the juicy details that will both entertain and inform. Our journey will begin as we take a one-way flight from Miami to St. Lucia and stay at the Bay Island Inn for quarantine and then after two weeks we close on our boat where Regis Marine Electric will install a Spectra Newport 400 water maker, radar, new Raymarine Axiom 12 chart plotter and Relion 900 amps lithium batteries that is just a start to the upgrades which will be completed a few weeks later in Sint Maarten. Next, we will set sail for two weeks with Captain Ben who will teach us the ropes of sailing and then sign off with our insurance company that we are competent to sail our boat on our own. After that, we sail to Sint Maarten which is a special Caribbean oasis which charges no import duty making it the ideal place to pick up our items shipped from Miami and to have the additional upgrades of Victron components, solar panels and clothes washing machine added by Tradewinds Marine Electric will install a custom stainless solar arch, downwind sail rigging. Once all of this is added Blown Away will be entirely off grid relying on renewable energy alone. If you would like to check out some of our favorite China Quarantine videos to compare them with our upcoming two-week quarantine, click on the following links. They’re really funny. • Day 1 Make Your Own Hazmat Suite - https://youtu.be/uTzrnW3huZw • Day 3 Life’s a Beach - https://youtu.be/N-Vd5iZRPc0 • Day 5 Hubby Hairdresser - https://youtu.be/Xco0rP6GDUI #sailing #sailboat #sailingprojects #BOATUPDATE NEW TO OUR CHANNEL? We are Eileen and Brown Councill. Welcome to our channel and a glimpse into our life adventure! 2020 was a year of uncertainty and change (for all of us, right?), but we overcame the challenges and decided it was time to chase our dream, to sail around the world! Did I mention that we had very NO sailing experience? Before leaving Qingdao, China, our home of 4 years, we sold almost all of our earthly possessions and started our international search to find the right sailboat that we would call "home." After 5 months of unanticipated twists and turns, we found what we were looking for, a used Leopard 44' Catamaran located in St. Lucia. So, here begins our journey, filled with unmatched excitement and honestly, a bit of trepidation as well. We have much to learn as we travel the world on our floating home and we intend to document that journey and share it with you. We are so glad you have decided to join us, and we hope that you will find our story so compelling that it will inspire you to chase your dreams too! As a viewer, we consider you to be part of our family and look forward to getting to know you. Don't hesitate to comment on our videos and ask questions. We will do our best to answer every correspondence! All we ask is that you have patience with us as we work really hard to improve our camera/video techniques and ability to tell a story. Hopefully, you will be as BLOWN AWAY from watching, as we are in experiencing and producing our adventures! HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT US? If you wish to support our video efforts, all we ask is that you SUBSCRIBE, give a THUMBS UP, SHARE our videos with your friends, AND COMMENT! WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET TO KNOW US MORE DEEPLY? It would be an honor and pleasure to deepen our relationship with you as a Patron. Please click on the following link to see how: https://www.patreon.com/sailingblownaway WOULD YOU LIKE TO FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY? https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/6040796987916288 WHERE CAN YOU FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Instagram - @sailingblownaway Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SailingBlownAway Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/eileen.dietrich/ YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/sailingblownaway