A few weeks back, I posted about being back on the water. It has been a journey from May last year, when we handed the keys over to our beloved first big catamaran, Twoflower, to now. It took much searching and disappointing inspections ti find Velella. Most people selling something that has been a big part of their life see their yacht through rose-coloured glasses and place a value on her that is much higher than buyers in the marked are prepared to pay. The last couple of years of Covid craziness, however, have seen people paying silly prices for everything, especially luxury items like yachts and caravans. We encountered some people who were completely taking the piss both with their price, and their description of the condition of their boat,

When a broker contacted us with details of Velella, we were a week into a trip to Western Queensland, heading in the opposite direction to the Simpson Desert. As far away from the ocean as you can get! Right from the time we received the first email, we had a sense that after all of our searching that this might be the one. But this was not our first rodeo. We had gotten excited before. When we looked at her, we still had a sense of disbelief. We went through the stats together. We pored over every inch of her. This was a contrast to our purchase of Twoflower in 2020. Back then, we had a face-time call with the owners and a lot of naivety. We put a deposit on a boat we had never seen in the flesh, and it was all happening. In 2025, we were cautious and jittery about spending our hard-earned savings.

Finally, at the beginning of September, the deal was done. Even then, getting her home has been a journey. She has had a much harder life than Twoflower and is bearing the marks of being a charter boat for a few years before being left in a marina with very little one-on-one attention. Sure, a lot of major work was done and big-ticket items have been ticked off. This was one of the major draw cards. But there are many little things that need to be looked after. We are slowly working our way through them and easing ourselves into her as we do.

While we do this, we are taking the time to visit places in Moreton Bay that are special to us. After a year of land-based travel, I am easing back into life on the water. There are many things I love about the ocean, but it is not my natural state. Our trip to the desert reminded me of that. I know that over time I will ease back into it. I also know that over time I will be more comfortable with Velella and stop comparing her to Twoflower. We are planning some longer trips on her next year once we get settled and everything is shipshape.

The weekend that just passed we visited a bay at the southern end of Moreton Island that has long been a special place for me. I have to admit I wasn’t as excited about this as I thought I would be. I am not sure why, but lots of extraneous things are distracting me. Inconsistent work schedule, inconsistent life schedule, Christmas, etc. We had a magical day. A good sail across the bay. After that, I felt more comfortable with how things work on her, and I didn’t kick my toe once the whole weekend! I got to swim in some beautiful blue water and watch turtles and stingrays doing their thing. We got caught in a storm on the way home, which was a little stressful, but more learning was done about what flaps and what doesn’t. I didn’t ever feel unsafe in her. And that is the most important thing.

All in all, it was a successful weekend. I hope we have many more!

The following Hypnosis and Training Materials below are recommended training enhancements to this blog post.