Our Boat

To view the sale listing for Sea Spice, click here.

Aug 2016:

We've settled on a Beneteau Oceanis 393. Made in 2002, it's no spring-chicken, but it's still everything we could want in a  boat. It's been in a charter fleet so it has been well used but also consistently maintained which makes us happy. All along we haven't wanted a fix-up project: we want to get sailing.

Of all the boat layouts we've looked at, we've found that this is the best compromise that will meet our needs with comfort. We had really wanted an L-shaped galley/kitchen, directly down from the companion way (boat door/stairs down), but this style kitchen will have to do. Who knows: we could love it. Or... we could not.

 

Some deets:

 

  • The engine in this boat is a good quality Yanmar 50hp diesel, which should have a long serviceable life.
  • The water tankage is in two tanks, 485L total (it sounds like a lot of water, but we also will have a water-maker on board to make drinking water).
  • Our boat has two heads (boat toilets) and both have holding tanks, for longer stays at an anchorage.
  • It has a new mainsail, and the jib is an older sail (not too sure of condition)
  • Lines (ropes) are all in working condition (might have to change a few down the road)
  • this boat has vinyl seats in the salon (I know how practical they are to clean and blah blah blah, but have you ever sat on them in hot caribbean weather? Hot and sweaty thighs for all! Just, not fun. We'll try to improvise something, but vinyl is just not something you curl up on, you know?

 

The things we love about this boat are:

  • the layout (kids get their own cabins! We get an "en-suite"!)
  • the price (we were really stretching to find a 40' boat around $50K US, and this one came in at just that)
  • the size (we really didn't want to have to compromise on this, but it would have been the first to get cut if the budget didn't work in it's favour. 39' is just big enough to manage single handedly but still plenty large for us to be comfy)
  • the location (located in the BVI's, the only place we recognize in the Caribbean means we have an easy beginning to our trip and can cruise to some of our favourite spots and feel familiar)
  • the swim-grid off the back. In lovely waters, it acts almost like your back porch, for dangling feet and getting in and out of the water. Also, you can do your showering off the back, which makes life so much easier.

 Overall, we are thrilled to be in a boat like this. It's a beautiful place to start. Truly, we are so excited to have a boat like this. It's right up our alley: not too showy, but definitely not ugly. Practical but with just a touch of class. All of this is with us not even laying our eyes on her in the flesh (boat flesh? Fiberglass?). It's a big trust jump and we leap off with two feet, splashing into unknown waters. But we're jumping anyways.