Serendipity, with a side of "Oh My God!!"

So, I am so excited I am about to burst. About to BURST I tell you. In less than 24 hours Scott and I will (god willing) be the owners of a beautiful Hallberg-Rassy Rasmus 35. Do you want to know the coolest feeling in the world?! Buy a boat. It is, so far, unrivaled in it's "cool" factor. Just knowing that we are *this* close to being boat owners and *this* much closer to shoving off for our around the world adventure is...well...it's insane. Speaking of insane...

The boat buying process has been...interesting. There have been a lot of "glitches" along the way, too many too really go into in this post - but suffice it to say, I have had to bring my claws out and bare my teeth on a couple of occasions. And this little blondie doesn't like to get nasty, but when it comes to business - I can be tough, some might say a word that ryhmes with "itchy".  Part of the problem has been that Scott and I have never, ever known who the "seller" is. This is strange and unusual when buying a boat. Some people talk about him in the past tense, some talk about him in present tense, there is a "seller's rep" and a "friend" doing business on his behalf and this constant cloud of secrecy surrounding "Wayne". After about a month, Scott and I concluded that "Wayne" is dead and his wife is selling the boat - and they just didn't want to disclose that to us for obvious reasons (we could play hard ball). Well, he is not dead. And guess what? Assuming makes an ASS out of U and ME (get it?).

The president of the brokerage called me yesterday to "put out a fire" as I was very angry upon receiving some news earlier that morning. After explanations and going back and forth and yadda yadda I finally had to ask; "Carl, one more thing - this "seller", this "Wayne"...can you shed any light on this for us? I mean, it's just so odd that we have no idea who he is and why there is this constant ambiguity about him. Could you please tell me, just for my own personal sake what the deal is there?"

PAUSE.

President of brokerage: "Wayne is incapacitated. He is severely, severely ill. (At this point, I feel like a TOTAL jerk because this poor man is dying). He...(pause - and here's the kicker)...has SEVERE mental problems (what!?!) and....well....he will not be needing his boat anymore. Carolyn (the seller's rep) is just a friend of his tying up all his loose ends and his estates".

WHAT!?!?! Mentally ill?? So...super sleuth that I am - I hopped on the Internet and did a little research. Turns out Wayne is in jail. Wayne is a convicted felon and will not be needing his boat anymore. Wayne is less "incapacitated" and a little more "incarcerated". Talk about nuts. So, there you have it. Never a dull moment.

So today I trot over to the bank to make a wire transfer to purchase Rasmus and the really nice woman, Jazmina - who helped me organize my deposit a few days prior was there. We had gotten to chatting last time I and discovered we both had a mutual passion for sailing and she too had a boat she kept at Monroe harbor. Sweet! Sailing sisters! Well, today - she assisted me again and had another banker help me organize the wire to the brokerage (gulp - bye bye money!) and he and I were making small talk. He asked what I was buying, I said a boat and immediately he replied: "You should talk to Jazmina - she loves sailing" and I said that I had a little and he continued, "Yeah, she's sailed around the world and been in the junior olympics and everything".

What!?! I immediately had to talk to this modest sailing superstar again...we chatted for a while about her experience and our plans and have agreed to keep in touch. Super cool. How crazy is it that the very banker who helped me transfer the funds to buy our boat - not only actually sails - but sailed around the world herself!?!? Signs, signs, signs. I just love the way the Universe works. Absolutely *love* it.

Hooray for serendipity!

Next time you hear from us - we should be boat owners!! We're flying to Traverse City tonight and will be taking the helm tomorrow around noon to bring our baby home to Chicago... (excuse me while I scream)!!

Your soon-to-be boat owner pals,

Brittany and Scott