GTFOplan #38: Sailing in Luxury on a Balance 482 to Fort Lauderdale

Рет қаралды 7,339

2 жыл бұрын

IN THIS VIDEO
Join us at the 2022 Miami Boat Show and an amazing demo sail on Ke'ala, a Balance 482.
ABOUT FUTURE OUR PERFORMANCE CATAMARAN:
We fell in love with the Balance 482 - it's a perfect size for a cruising couple to handle and is a great "balance" of performance and comfort. One of our favorite features is the excellent ventilation since we mostly live as "hookers" (aka at anchor) where the boat automatically turns into the wind so we stay cool and we don't need to battle mold. We also have starlink for easy off-grid life. Our 2400 watt solar panel array also means we rarely need to run an engine to charge our batteries.
ABOUT US:
We saved for a our future boat, Sold Everything that we owned, Shipped the rest in a container to Cape Town, South Africa, flew to Cape Town, South Africa airport, to explore South Africa including an amazing safari, touring around Cape Town, move onto a Balance 482 Catamaran, then sailed to St Helena, Ascension Island, Fernando de Naronha, Brazil, Martinique, Sint Maarten (Dutch and French), St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, Inagua, Crooked Island, Long Island, George Town, Staniel Cay, Eleuthera, Anegada, Bahamas, Cape Canaveral, St. Augustine Florida, USA, Matthews Virigina, Zimmerman's marine for a haul out, and more!
Both Dennis and Ann grew up military brats with Army fathers. Dennis (the Colonel) served 30 years in the US Army and his retirement pension helped us retire in our 50s. Ann (the ship's Captain) wrote Test Automation in Python and Java. Dennis and Ann met on Match.com where Ann had in her profile "Do you want to sail the world with me?"
Ann easily brought Dennis into sailing and he loved the GTFOplan of retiring early and sailing the world. After many years of saving, living on one income but earning two incomes, and cutting back on everything possible, they saved enough to buy a Balance 482.
Follow them as they get real about boat life and all the hassles of buying a new boat because we all know N.E.W. means Not Everything Works.
Kisses,
Ann & Dennis
Twitter: @GTFOplan
Facebook: / anndennis.snellikin.3
Instagram: / gtfoplan
Many thanks to:
Owner Chris
Captain Dunbar Lewis Dunbar@balancecatamarans.com
Captain Karl Reed Karl@multihullcompany.com
Turkish Towels
buldano.com/
ICON A5 light sport aircraft www.iconaircraft.com/
Track: Cuban Music [Latin Music] by MokkaMusic / Cuba • (No Copyright Music) C...
Highfield Dinghy, Yamaha 25hp and Hydro-Shield
www.annapolisinflatables.net/
Bean Bag Chairs
e-searider.com/
Music provided by "MokkaMusic" channel and inaudio.org
Cuban Sandwich - No Copyright Music - Royalty Free - Salsa Cubana
• Cuban Sandwich - No Co...

Пікірлер: 38

@zzzxxzzz3248 2 жыл бұрын

Have fun !

@scottlaane8539 2 жыл бұрын

The production value on this one! It was like a Casey Neistat vlog, very impressive. Also love the wet cat in the intro!

@GTFOplan 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the wonderful compliment! Casey is a YT legend. If only we had as many subs as him. We could probably retire now…

@HalaciousCharters 6 ай бұрын

We were in Ft. Laud this summer looking at a GB48 and saw Chris's boat and stopped and talked with him and he was kind enough to give us a short tour. Nice guy for sure.

@GTFOplan 6 ай бұрын

Agree. Chris is a great guy and very knowledgeable.

@HalaciousCharters 6 ай бұрын

Have you started your passage to Grenada?

@GTFOplan 6 ай бұрын

@HalaciousCharters yes, but we plan on going to Sint Maarten after Fernando.

@HalaciousCharters 6 ай бұрын

Because we won't take possession until the end of the month it is doubtful we will make it South of Turks and Caicos this year.I hope to be in Georgetown March April a get to see the Family Regatta. @@GTFOplan

@GTFOplan 6 ай бұрын

Sounds good! Keep us posted. We may be in the BVI area early April.

@LoanwordEggcorn Жыл бұрын

Sounds like Chris gave a great briefing on the boat systems, etc.

@GTFOplan Жыл бұрын

Chris has been a goldmine of information!

@JasonHampel 2 жыл бұрын

Can't wait till you start making videos on your very own Balance! :)

@GTFOplan 2 жыл бұрын

Neither can we!

@kirkb3473 2 жыл бұрын

Great video! Chris has a fantastic boat and I think we talked his ear off for hours on Friday. I was wondering if you two were going to be down in Miami, we missed you in Annapolis too unfortunately. 15 months is going to fly by, looking forward to seeing what colors and options you guys go with!

@GTFOplan 2 жыл бұрын

Chris does have an awesome boat! Sorry we missed you as well. Will you be in Annapolis for the spring show? Ugh. Yes. Colors. We’re having a difficult time figuring out what we want. We’re definitely inclined to go with a wrap, even if it’s a solid color.

@kirkb3473 2 жыл бұрын

@@GTFOplan we are thinking of going to La Grande Motte to see Phill’s “In Balance” 482…if not we may head to Annapolis again!

@GTFOplan 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! We’ve heard his boat is gorgeous. There won’t (as far as we know) be a Balance boat at the spring boat show, but 442 hull #1 is supposed to be at the fall boat show. Are you looking at getting a Balance? Send us an email and we can Zoom.

@kirkb3473 2 жыл бұрын

@@GTFOplan Yes we have a 526 on order but won’t launch until fall of ‘24 to align with our timeline, so have plenty of time to see what everyone else is choosing. I’m sure we will cross paths sooner or later! Everyone we’ve had the chance to meet has been so great, I’ll send a email as well so we can trade notes 👍🏻

@GTFOplan 2 жыл бұрын

@@kirkb3473 Congrats! Sounds good; I'll keep an eye out for the email.

@rickirizarry5079 2 ай бұрын

What was the determining factor in choosing the 482 over the 526?

@GTFOplan 2 ай бұрын

Cost. The 526 was simply out of our price range. The 482 also incorporated a lot of owner inputs and tweaks that we liked.

@dwade2026 2 жыл бұрын

I'm looking at a neel 51, what's your honest take on it? Are they worth the price

@GTFOplan 2 жыл бұрын

Great question and thank you. When we first saw the Neel 51, we fell in love with the performance, cabin layout, and the basement/ technical room. We truly thought we’d found our future boat. However, once we had a chance to research more and sail it, we did not like the ventilation, customer support, and felt we were overpaying for French labor rates. It’s been about three years since we looked at the Neel 51, so no clue if things have changed. ‘Carry On Sailing’ (on KZfaq) and Trimaran San (trimaran-san.de) are two Neel 51 owners who can also give you more info (if you haven’t reached out already to them).

@dwade2026 2 жыл бұрын

@@GTFOplan thanks for the feed back, we're are actually on the same crew searching site , I haven't had the luck of finding anyone willing to take me along so I'm stuck just shopping for my own boat without the luxury of sailing on other people's boat first. Your input was most helpful. Fair winds and stay safe.

@LoanwordEggcorn Жыл бұрын

@@dwade2026 At least one of the Neels had problems with its transom separating from the hull. Fact. I have only seen them in videos, but my impression of their design and construction is less than favorable. That said, people are sailing them successfully.

@bertmacdonald337 2 жыл бұрын

She looks beautiful, guys, hurry up and wait routine for fifteen months ! I see Ullman sails, is that a buyer choice ? What seat did you get for the rib? Bouncing around on the tubes soon gets annoying. "How I miss Survival At Sea Training" said no man, ever! Doing survival training in the pool is cheating, you know that right? Real men do it in the English Channel, in winter ! Then it`s ''death of a thousand hip flasks'' as the rum gets passed round, on the boat back to shore ! Take it easy you two, fair winds xx

@GTFOplan 2 жыл бұрын

Hello Bert! Thank you as always for watching and commenting. For now we're just going with the dinghy as is and no extra seating. Ann will at some point make chaps to protect the tubes. The Survival at Sea training was definitely fun! An open water experience would have been better (Dennis did his in a lake).

@bertmacdonald337 2 жыл бұрын

@@GTFOplan what about the Ullman Sails, are they a buyer`s choice?

@mtrezaie 2 жыл бұрын

It is an amazing boat, but not a very informative video.

@GTFOplan 2 жыл бұрын

What do you hope to be informed about?

@mtrezaie 2 жыл бұрын

@@GTFOplan A bit more fluid story telling. These jumps and cuts are kinda hard to follow. Anyhow, I am a dork. So please do not pay top much attention to me. I really hope you enjoy this boat.