Introduction

We are Norm and Linda. We are in the final year of preparations to move aboard our sailboat Ariel. It is hard to know exactly when we decided to begin our retirement years exploring the east coast of the United States and the Caribbean on a sailboat. It was an evolutionary process over a period of years.

We have been sailing for about 15 years. We began our sailing experience in Sandusky, Ohio on Lake Erie. Later we relocated to Massachusetts and for the past several years have made Portsmouth, Rhode Island our home port.

One of the most difficult challenges was finding the right boat for us. We read all the sailing magazines, visited the boat shows, visited many boat yards, and have many discussions with other boaters and became very confused by all the options. Finally we made a list of the features we wanted in a boat for the type of cruising we had planned. Once we did that the sailboats made by Island Packet Yachts became the very obvious choice for us.

In 1999 Island Packet introduced the IP380. Even before the first hull was shown at the Annapolis boat show, we knew this was the boat for us. In 2001 we purchased what would later be named Ariel. Ariel is hull number 103. Since then we have been equipping and preparing Ariel for the day we will move aboard.