Patience is a virtue

...so the saying goes. I'm sure my teeth are trying to clench every time I read that or hear it from someone else trying to be helpful!

It has been two months since we fell in love with a boat while scanning the net late one night. I refused to click on it for more information, it was hard to make out, other than the fact that it was much bigger than what we had been planning on getting. Dave insisted on "just having a look". We were hooked, it ticked a lot of our boxes, except for the fact that it was 20 feet bigger than everything else we had considered so far!! Oh, and it was in the Caribbean, practically the other side of the world.
We did our homework, made dozens of emails and phone calls, agreed on a price subject to survey, signed papers, ran the survey past a local NZ guy and researched as much as we could on various aspects of the boat, talking to anyone who would listen and offer any further insights.

Our conclusion for going ahead with this boat is:
1) all yachties we've talked to so far have said we are mad trying to fit a family of five in a 30-something foot boat. They all firmly advise at least 40ft. All the families we've come across online so far are in yachts at least 40 feet long, so maybe we should pay attention to the ones who are out there doing it.
2) There is a saying/superstition that comes up often amongst various sailors that if you love your boat, you will look after her and she will look after you. Well, we definitely love it and now nothing else compares!

So, still we wait, the Caribbean definitely has a slower pace than we do, that's for sure. The broker did mention she was struggling to communicate between three different time zones for them, the owner and us. Hopefully I will be rather virtuous by the time this deal goes through!