What does one do while being stuck in the house of a friend for four months?  It happened in Austin, Texas, in winter, while we were trying to sell our last mode of transportation/housing.  Our trip through Central America was finished. We had broken up, and gotten back together.  We decided to move to Belize, a country the four of us like.  We got excited about the idea and started preparing, but...  three weeks became four, one month became two, three and almost four.  Finally the truck sold, and we found a smaller pick-up truck for our move.  The camper got put on consignment, where it still is.  Besides trying to save our relationship (24/7 together without anything exciting going on, and succeeding in nothing), we spent a lot of time online.  I found Matador, and Mark found Yachtworld.  The initial excitement about Belize cooled off, and Mark discovered that catamarans were more affordable than two years ago, when we first tried to sail to happiness.  Were we ready to try it again?  Would his dream to go sailing longterm come through this time?

While we were in the States, why not try to find a suitable cat?  If we failed, we could still go to Belize.  Easier to do this, then to get to Reggae land, and try to find a boat from there.  So, we left Austin, with our little 4-door truck (the dogs need a whole back seat), and all our belongings under the camper shell.  The plan: finding a catamaran between Texas and New England.