Our First Salt Water Blue Water Boat.

Yep, that's right. We have FINALLY purchased our first cruising sailboat. A 1998 Caliber 40 LRC. We have renamed her Honey Ryder.
1. I use the term finally because we have been planning and scheming for it since soon after we purchased our Catalina 30 in 2001. We have been saving since that same time. And we have been looking casually for the past five years and seriously for the past three years. Cruising Yachtworld and the internet three times a day for a boat can develop into quite a habit. "Hi my name is Sabrina and I have a boat porn habit....response - Hi Sabrina."
2. The name Honey Ryder has been on our short list (of two) boat names for some time. Tom and I both like Ian Fleming/James Bond. Honey Chile Ryder is a character in the book Dr No. In the movie Dr No, Ursula Andress plays Honey Ryder. Just seemed like a kewl boat name.
3. Why is this the first mention of a new boat? Why haven't I chronicled all the crazy details along the way? The emails to For Sale By Owner (and sailors are loony), the emails & phone calls to brokers, the trips to see boats and marina, the offers, the emails? Well because buying a cruising sailboat is a very personal matter. More so than buying a car or house. What one sailor likes and wants, another doesn't. Bottom line....buying a boat is not a committee event. We sought advice where needed and wanted. And to those of you we hit up for said advice....thank you so much!
4. Why a Caliber 40 LRC? They are awesome cruising boats. A). The LRC stands for long range cruiser. Meaning we have some serious tankage in both fuel and water. In a tankage street fight...the Caliber 40 LRC will win. B) Caliber has some really well thought out features. Too many to list here. Go to the web site if you really want to see. www.caliberyacht.com C) We actually toured the factory in May 2008. Afterward, Tom stated it best to Kathy McDonald -"no reason to keep looking. The Caliber 40 LRC has it all." Now we actually did keep looking but Caliber stayed near the top of the list. D) Honey Ryder is a cutter rig. The staysail is actually a detachable. When not in use, it can be moved to the side.
5. Honey Ryder has some excellent add ons - two solar panels, wind generator and spinnaker. There is a bunch of other kewl stuff. She is basically ready to go. She is just wanting for us to get up to speed on all the gadgets. On Lake Perry we simple set out across the lake based on whatever direction the wind was blowing. No nav aids. No shoaling. No barge traffic.