After a full year of exploring French Polynesia we found ourselves back at our favourite atoll in May 2021 making plans for what would come next. Which countries are open? Should we stay in French Polynesia for another season? We could stay with our friends and continue kiting and exploring, then head for home after a return to the Gambiers. Or should we head west (again)? But what about still widespread border closures and lack of a safe haven during cyclone season? Or should we list Slingshot for sale and see what happens? With our house under lease until June of 2022, we could still make it home if the boat didn’t sell. And if it did sell, we could try some land exploring for a while….Decisions, decisions!
So What Did We Decide?
It wasn’t an easy to make up our mind. We loved cruising with the dear friends we met along the way. And all of us were not ready to go back to ‘regular life’ just yet. But we were ready for some new opportunities and exploring new places. We’d now spent a total of 16 months in French Polynesia and, while there is still a bit more that we haven’t seen, our plan for the next year would include many of the same spots that we’d already been to before.
We’d heard good things about a broker listing boats from Fiji and a hybrid model of listing boats where we would produce the photos and media and the broker would make the listing live and be a first intermediary for interested buyers. We would then host facetime chats with prospective buyers first vetted by the agent. In a world after Covid with folks used to youtube videos and remote networking, this turned out to be a great way to access the boat market from French Polynesia. This approach coupled with what seemed like a hot boat market led us to decide to list Slingshot for sale, and to see what would happen next.
Slingshot For Sale
Gavin had been doing a great job of maintaining Slingshot’s systems as is the case when you’re already living on your boat. But of course there were still some maintenance items on the to-do list to take care of and we needed to ensure that the inside and out of Slingshot was fully detailed. This meant a lot of polishing of stainless, more coats of varnish on the teak, cleaning every surface and selling off and cleaning out the large amount of toys, gear and supplies that we’d accumulated over three years. We also replaced all of the interior upholstery to a off-white leatherette, which instantly improved the inside look of the interior space. This was not a run of the mill sewing project and I was skeptical. But I should probably trust Gavin with projects by now. It turns out Gavin is a master at sewing. Wow!
Luckily it was summer vacation so instead of ‘school’ during the mornings we spent time on boat chores every day which still left plenty of time for kiting, hiking, swimming and being with friends.
We were a bit taken aback when our sales video ended up being 51 minutes long as we are not super comfortable in front of the camera. But when the whole project was finished, we were glad to have it done and feel that it was a great representation of Slingshot and allowed any prospective buyer to have a good understanding of the inside and outside space of Slingshot, assuming they would not be nearby in Tahiti to pop by for a peak.
There were some long afternoons as we huddled outside the ‘vini-spot’ in Raiataia to send chunks of video over the in and out internet connection. Later we just used our in-house vini-spot. A painstaking process!
Finally we had everything ready. Our posting went live on yachtworld and then we had some sundowners and a potluck with friends. We weren’t quite expecting how quickly things would change for us right away!
Here is a link to the sales video:
Hot Boat Market – What will we do next?
Within 48 hours we had a signed contract! We then wondered if we had put our price too low, but our philosophy after selling a few boats by now is to list for our ‘sell it now price’ which means that we will be competitive on our list price but not negotiate lower. This strategy makes our list price competitive as most others list their boat for a higher price but will not receive the amount they list their boat for and end up taking a lower price in the end. The difference is that their boat will sit on the market for a while. This strategy has proved well for us in the past, and has enabled us to sell boats quick. It also keeps a listing fresh and we’ve watched other boats languish on the market for too high a price only to pay storage costs and ultimately accept a much lower offer after months of waiting.
Our plan worked and this meant that the new owners (also from BC!) would be sailing the boat back to Point Roberts, and Gavin would help them get to Hawaii. The kids and I would fly home to visit friends and family for a few weeks, and then we’d have a whole new adventure to plan for. Wow, big changes ahead!
We had what felt like a short 7 weeks to enjoy Slingshot and get her back to Tahiti where the new owners would take possession and our new adventures would begin. Exciting stuff! But also mixed feelings.
We found ourselves savouring our last moments of kiting from the boat, foiling in the pristine waters of Raiataia lagoon, and visiting with our friends. Julia worked hard to get independent at kiting so that she could stay upwind on her own without needing boat support. Mission accomplished! Good work Julia!
And we also made use of our easy tow foiling capability where Julia was able to get up practising her foiling behind the dinghy in the calm Tahiti mornings.
We realized that what felt like a ‘short 7 weeks’ is actually a really long vacation in our regular life and we took time to enjoy our last days aboard Slingshot, the sunrises, sunsets and her beautiful sailing. We managed a fantastic last passage as a family from Raiataia to Tahiti with most of the way spent gloriously sailing under the asymmetrical kite. This is not usual to be able to do in this direction, but we had the luxury of time to pick a great weather window to make it back ‘upwind’ and found a nice break in the tradewinds.
Goodbye Slingshot – Precious Memories of a Lifetime
After a final few weeks connecting with friends in Tahiti it was time to say goodbye to Slingshot. Everyone kept asking what it felt like, I think many assuming this would be very hard. And it was, in some ways. The good thing is that we’ve bought and sold boats before so we know that we will be able to find another great boat. But this was a bit different as Slingshot was more than just a boat for us. She had carried our family safely over 20,000 nautical miles across the Pacific and part way back. And she’d been our home for the past three years. So many memories and precious times together. Some hard moments too. I have to say the thing I will miss most is the easy connected family life that comes with living aboard. I’ll also miss the beautiful sailing aboard Slingshot – the easy motion, great speed, sound of rushing water in the comfortable cockpit and the feeling of safety and freedom and adventure as we close in on a new undiscovered paradise. But the sad feelings of saying goodbye were buoyed by the fact that we knew Slingshot likely won’t be our last boat. And it helped that we still had some time for some fun adventures ahead. Not a return to regular life quite yet!
We finally waved good bye to Slingshot and boarded our flight for Vancouver. Gavin would follow shortly with the new owners to help them get to Oahu, and then…. what next!?
Home at Last – a Short Visit
The kids and I were super excited to touch down in Vancouver and give hugs to family and friends, some of whom we hadn’t seen in three years. Pouring rain and the beautiful fresh smell of crisp air of home greeted our mid October arrival. And it was so fun to arrive on my birthday to a reunion dinner with family.
If felt good to be home to see everyone and visit our favourite spots. Nathan’s comment when we drove back down our street and visited friends, “We live in a nice place, Mom,” was good to hear. After seeing many variations of how and where others live during our travels we’ve become accustomed to some pretty beautiful spots. And Nathan’s affinity for warm water kite spots has left me wondering how the adjustment to home will be. But we’ve also seen enough for the kids to (hopefully) realize how fortunate they are. While the weather and climate may be beautiful in the South Pacific, often the living conditions for locals are still basic, at least according to ‘western’ eyes. So our green suburban street apparently didn’t look too bad after all.
We spent time in and around Vancouver, Whistler and the Sunshine Coast, and before we knew it, we were off again. Gavin and the new owners made excellent time on Slingshot reaching from Tahiti to Oahu in 14 days. And during a quick week at home Gavin found a used Toyota Tundra crew cab (not an easy task in these supply change challenged covid times!) and him and Nate were soon off on a road trip to our next destination – North Padre Island in Corpus Christi, Texas!
Julia and I found a direct flight YVR to Corpus a few days later and we were delighted to be met at the airport by two tired smiling boys. The air was warm again and we zoomed down huge highways with billboards and big shiny pickup trucks. Multiple billboards touting the upcoming gun show among fast food advertisements and lawyers smiling alongside their 8 figure award settlements lined the 10 lane interstate highways. Wow, this was going to be a different experience from the last few years. How far removed this seemed from the quaint atolls, blue idyllic waters of French Polynesia. How would we fare? And why exactly, were we going to Texas….
This was the trip of a lifetime…so
glad you are home safe and sound.
I don’t think this will be the end of
touring for all of you. Enjoy what
you have planned next.
Hugs and welcome home…Jane❤️
Thank you Jane! So wonderful to have you follow along with us. xx Jenn and family
Very Very NIce!!!
Thank you Patrick! Looking forward to seeing some photos from your beautiful yacht on the seas soon:)
Hi Gavin and Jenn,
This is George on Silver Heels. Great blog you have. We aren’t moving as fast as you but still moving. I single handed from Raiatea to Fiji 2 months ago and we (Brett and I) are now exploring the Mamanucas. Ann had to stay home as her father passed away leaving something of a mess. Oh well, the plan is to leave the boat in a cyclone pit at Vuda Marina and then cruise the rest of Fiji next year. From there, who knows. I think I’ll just keep heading West. I turn 70 in a few months but still feel young so may as well.
George
sv Silver Heels
Hi George,
So great to hear from you and congratulations on making it to Fiji. Wow, good for you to single-hand that stretch – that is a long way! Wonderful to hear you are out cruising with Brett and sounds like you have a lot of great cruising ahead of you in Fiji for another season. Enjoy and look forward to hearing updates!
Jenn