We named our boat Alegría. Alegría is the Spanish word for happiness. We met in Venezuela and had a very happy time there. We both like the Latin culture and so we felt that a Spanish name would be nice. Most fellow cruisers we meet in the Caribbean owned their boats for many years before they decided to live aboard and sail long distances. If this is possible, it is definitely the way to go. This way you get to know your boat inside out. You learn how to repair everything that can go wrong, and you make those modifications that turn a day-sailor into a live-aboard offshore sailboat whilst still in your homeport. Also, in case of a new boat you stay close to the manufacturer or to the dealer until any teething problems have been ironed out. In case of a second hand boat you locate and repair all those hidden defects before venturing far from repair facilities For us this wasn’t much of an option. The opportunity to take a break from our careers and go cruising came rather suddenly (see About Us ). Even if we had known in advance, we were living in Muscat, Oman where there are very few facilities for sailboats, and certainly no sailboats for sale. These pages tell the story about how we turned a dream into reality so quickly, and how this worked out in practice.