We have a boat!

May I introduce you to Wisdom, our newly acquired sailing vessel:)  She is currently residing in Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean.

For those of you interested in more specific details, here you go:

Merritt Walter design
build finished year 2000
aluminium schooner
LOA: 54 ft
beam: 12 ft 6 in
LWL: 32 ft 6 in
displacement: 32000 lbs
ballast: 8000 lbs

Not sure at this stage if we will keep the name, so if any particularly creative people have a good name, we are open to suggestions!  
She has earned the nick-name from other passing cruisers as "The Purple Pirate Ship".  I liked the name so much I thought it would make a good name for my blog.  Saying this name over the vhf however, could be a bit of a mouthful, especially in foreign countries if we have to spell it out, using the NATO phonetic alphabet, or where piracy is a major concern! I'm also a bit weary about getting ourselves in a situation like: "this is Wisdom... on the rocks!"
  

Wee Tree House

While homeless and waiting for the right boat to come along, our tent and all it's contents were becoming more and more damp. We decided a storage/sleeping area was the next best thing to do. We came across (online) another couple in Auckland who had built a trailer-able "Wee-house".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3SwqNzsNwg

We were inspired, Dave set to work planning and building with what materials he could scavenge from the left-overs of our last build and some bits and pieces Mum and Dad had also. We ended up having to buy very little and it took him the most part of a month, with help from the boys and I to knock up our Wee Tree House.

Pulling down fence, clearing out flax.
 Base built on steel girders, so it can fit on a trailer.

Dave and Eli framing and laying floor joists for mezzanine floor.

Window framed.

Almost complete; had a tarp doorway for a month till
we could find a cheap one!

Bunk below with belongings stored, ladder fixed in
 place to mezzanine floor.

Looking at ground floor from the ladder.

Eden, Dave and I up top, very warm and cosy!

Salem's photo of our wee tree house, door fitted.
In the orchard, under the pin oak tree.

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!