So when Adam first threw out the idea of sailing around the world I will admit I pictured hammocks over crystal clear waters and white plush sun chairs on the beautifully maintained teak deck of our big, clean, spacious yacht… 
Somehow I was slightly off…the reality of diesel engine smell, smelly heads, sea sickness, bruises and bumps, greasy, dirty hands, and never pedicured feet did not come immediately to mind….Though reality quickly stepped in when I moved onto Seabird our temporary home in St Croix for the winter. Seabird is a 42ft Fontaine Pajot catamaran..
Truly I don’t have a thing in the world to complain about, but being the previous city dweller I was, I had no idea the ins and outs of living on a boat. And though Seabird is a very nice boat, it was all an eye opening experience for me. From learning that it takes three buttons/switches/levers just to boil water and another three to shower (while still hoping that the water tank is full and that someone remembered to turn on the water heater) -needless to say there was a learning curve, a few tears and plenty of F-bombs!
As our winter months in St Croix dwindling on, my relationship with Seabird and boat life in general began to really heat up!
I was comfortable driving, could flush the toliet by myself, and even enjoyed cooking most days. We were getting along famously- sooo que the boat shopping!
Adam and I both had been “window shopping” at boats for months- we had a good size budget and thanks to Seabird and the Internet, I had a lovely (not so little) wish list… Picture yacht week… obviously one those had to give out and in standard first home buying fashion it was the wish list.
Which brings us to Tortola to boat shop-we had planned a long weekend over in the BVIs for boat shopping and to get off of our little island for a bit. (Side note: going to the BVIs and Tortola in particular felt like going to the big city, funny how my perspective and the bubble of St Croix changed me in a few short months!) Anyway! Our long weekend of boat browsing and big city exploring quickly became a “on
e day only” because the swell coming in to Tortola for the weekend “never happens here” and there was going to be “epic waves” and Adam just had to get in the water “at least for a few hours”….which in surfing time means days on end :)! 
Slightly frustrated but happy to cheerlead on my surfer I resolved to hanging on the beach and working on my tan!
During my hours on the beach I spoke to a broker and set up to see a couple of boats just to get our feet wet and see what our money could buy. We knew that whatever we could afford would need some work and some upgrades to make it cruising worthy.
Low and behold we set foot on Heritage and knew she was it. She had it all! Charm, upgrades, aft cabin, engine accessibility! We were sold! After seeing a few other boats around the BVIs and a few back in St Croix in the following weeks, we put in our offer on Heritage and prayed that we could soon call her home!
Luck was on our side and our hunch was right! Sold!
Heritage is a 1984 42ft Bruce Roberts Spray cutter ketch. She was custom built in South Africa which hits a soft side for us playing into Adams South African heritage!
Heritage is very well set up but needs some serious TLC and a few upgrades here and there. I am not DYI at all, aside from the occasional Pinterest inspired Christmas ornament but here goes nothing! Stay tuned as we get Heritage ready to take on the big seas!
