Maybe I’ve told this story before. Maybe not. No matter, it’s a good tale so it bears re-telling.

It was August of 2009. Our anniversary was coming up. It was a big one — thirty years. It fell on a Tuesday that year, so we both arranged for the day off to revel in us. Maybe we’d go to the beach and have lunch. Maybe we’d sleep in and then have a date night. We just knew we’d do something together, something to make the day special.

Living in Florida and not owning a boat is like living in Colorado and not owning skis. You’re just missing out on so much of what life has to offer. We’d graduated from a Nacra beach cat to a Yamaha jet boat. But while the jetboat was fine for hopping between beach bars, we couldn’t stay out on it overnight. I’d been glancing at boats on Yachtworld. It was time for something more.

I called Rhonda at her office on Monday. “How do you feel about looking at some boats tomorrow on our way out to the beach?” I asked. “Sounds good to me,” she answered. I had my eye on a Cherubini Hunter 37 cutter. It looked at bit worn out in the pictures, but the price was right.

Before I left work, I checked Yachtworld one more time. I don’t know why. I’d already printed out the info on the Hunter 37, as well as a Catalina 30 that was also in our price range. But something told me to look again. So I did. Something new popped up. Something that hadn’t been there previously. A 1995 Hunter 336. It looked interesting. It looked like it could be just what we needed. It was in our price range. Hmmmm.

We met the broker at Santa Rosa Yacht Club. We stepped onboard Eagle. And our lives changed. We just knew. Rhonda said the boat hugged her. We looked at the 37 cutter anyway. It was a mess. We didn’t even bother with the Catalina. We’d already seen what we wanted.

I believe there are paths in life that we’re meant to follow. Destiny, if you will. They’re not pre-ordained. You have to choose them. But they’re there waiting for you to open yourselves to them. The Eagle felt like a path we were meant to pursue. Accepting that we had to buy her felt like putting on a warm robe on a chilly morning — a comforting embrace. Rhonda had felt it first, and I soon followed. And so our dreams took flight.

The Eagle has been our teacher, our mentor, our guardian. We’ve learned more from her than we could have possibly imagined on that August afternoon five years ago. She showed us what we’re capable of when we work together, she, Rhonda and I. She never let us down, and she always brought us home safely. But she’s taken us as far as she’s able, and it’s once again time to move on. We need to continue our growth. And she needs someone else to take under her wing and tutor.

So. Are there any other dreamers out there who hear destiny’s call?

1995 Hunter 336 — Yachtworld