How it all began..

A class.png — Our Love of Sailing began when we were in our early
20’s when we bought an old A-Class catamaran and spent many hours sailing off Port Arlington in Port Phillip bay with 2 up on trapeze trying to fly!

This is not quite the actual boat but you get the idea.
We eventually ripped the deck off the hull when Rick was trying to fling his brother through the air on a gybe that ended in flipping the boat. It was fantastic fun while it lasted!

“I loved the feeling of freedom and peace that came from wind in the sails and hanging out over the water as we were speeding along! It was addictive!

— Nols

“ricks quote.”

— Rick

Our next foray into sailing was to be the more individual pass time of windsurfing.

We had some of the first very cumbersome boards and heavy riggs but we definitely had fun. Our usual spot was further up the bay off Elwood beach. Along with what seemed at times hundreds of others. For Nols it all ended after giving herself a concussion by being knocked out by the boom and having to be rescued by the surf lifesavers. It was not long after this that helmets started to make an appearance! I wonder why!

Land Ho!

In 1994 we moved onto acreage in the Yarra Valley and so our land adventures began along with raising children. We still visited the ocean often and had various motor boats for fishing but the sailing dream was put aside for awhile.

carol wandin.jpg — Wandin was a wonderful adventure with horses and cows and lots of land for the kids to explore.

A great place to raise a family!

Achilles in Whitsundays — Achilles

In 2017 we decided to learn to sail and purchased a Sonata 7 trailer sailer called Achilles. She is an awesome vessel and we learned a lot while sailing both the Gippsland lakes and 2 seasons in the Whitsundays. The Sonata club was a wonderful organization that we sailed with and learnt so much from the wisdom and gracious sharing of its members.
There is definitely something about the sorority of sailors that is so supportive and so willing to help others that we are very grateful for.

Finding Nauti Kitty

After 2 years sailing Achilles the dream was reignited to sail the world and the search was on for the right vessel. We knew we wanted a catamaran of 40 to 50 foot that had proven blue water capable. We turned to the production yachts and scoured the internet looking for the right fit. There were many on the list from Lagoons, Fontaine Pajots and Leopards that we loved but finding the right one in our price range was a task. We thought we had struck it lucky when in the first week we found a Lagoon 420 in immaculate condition down in Tassie. As we were novices at this yacht buying business we did not have cash at hand nor move quickly enough and even though we were the first in touch with the lovely owners we didn’t know to jump straight on a flight to check it out and if we wanted it to put down deposit then and there. The following week it was gone! In hind sight it wasn’t really the boat for us even though at the time we were bitterly disappointed.

The first boat we missed out on by being unprepared Lagoon 420 in Tassie

We knew if we were to be serious contenders to buy a beautiful floating home we had to have our house sold and money in the bank to be ready to jump when the right one presented itself. What followed was months of revamping our house ready for sale as well as months of searching. We went to boat shows and travelled from Melbourne to Airely beach to look at some absolutely beautiful vessels, that were way over budget, and some not so fantastic, home modified, abused vessels that would probably sink the first trip out in rough weather!

We finally sold our home in December 2019 and moved to our beach house in January 2020. In March 2020 we travelled again to Queensland to continue our search and after some more disappointing viewings we came across a very well kept Leopard 39!
It was immaculate and, although it didn’t have all the features we were after and was a little smaller than we originally planned, we felt it was right for us. So contracts were signed and deposits paid subject to sea trial and surveyor ok which we had organized for the following week. We planned to fly back to Queensland to complete the purchase process but unfortunately during that week COVID 19 struck and Queensland closed its borders and we were unable to get back. As the months dragged on we had to let the boat go as we were just not able to get back to it.

The Leopard 39 we had a deposit on but were unable to get back to in Queensland due to COVID 19 lockdown

With months of Melbourne lockdown and borders closed our search became dependent on when we could travel and where. Some 11 months later at the end of lockdown 3, I think, I was traveling to Melbourne to see the kids when Rick phoned me while I was driving and said I had to go and look at this Lagoon 410 in Melbourne at Docklands as he’d made an appointment for me for 2pm. Timing wise I would get there by 12.30 and as I didn’t want to wait around I asked Rick to see if he could change the appointment. Lucky I did because the owner said he had someone who was on their way from Geelong who had booked in at 1.30pm to see the boat also. I FaceTimed Rick so we could view the boat together. It was called ‘Day and Night” a Lagoon 410 S2 one of the last of that model ever built and the owner had had it shipped to Melbourne from Croatia.

After looking over the boat and having our questions answered we found that there were again a few things we wanted that were not on board however the price allowed for getting those and still coming in under the price we had been willing to pay for the Leopard! It also came with the advantage that it was in Melbourne and we could take over the Marina berth at Docklands which made it super convenient in these uncertain times!

I signed the contract then and there and the owner went out to the other purchaser who, by this time, was at the gate to the marina and told them it was sold. They weren’t happy!!!!

The following weekend we had the sea trial and survey report and the boat became ours!