Sailing HR-54 Feelin' Good for the last time

Knowing we wanted to move into a larger boat with more room for guests and crew, I listed our beloved HR-54, Feelin' Good for sale while we were still over in the Caribbean. I wanted to get a jump start on the spring/summer selling season as I thought the market might be a little tough for selling boats. As it turns out, I found a buyer fairly quickly (he was already a HR-54 fan and knew the boat!) so, soon after arrival in southern Spain, I had to have the boat hauled out for inspection then held in waiting for the sale to consumate.

Luckily, I had some time to spend sailing before I had to clean her up for the last time and wait for the closing date. As Sean had some problems with his passport I located another guy to sail with me for a while, Marco from Genova. Marco is one of those guys that has been sailing all his life and the sea holds a special place in his heart. We spent about three weeks together sailing around the coastline off Estepona, Spain and I really enjoyed my final days with Feelin' Good, learning some new things from Marco and just relishing the sea breeze in my face and the sound of the water rushing past the hull.

Looking back over the past year, I see that I have really come a long way from the 'noobie' who picked up a boat from the Hallberg-Rassy shipyard with three weeks sailing instruction under my belt. Under the instruction of Sean, I've become an accomplished sailor able to handle all aspects of sailing to a fairly good degree of expertise. It's funny, but my original goal of being able to sail the boat completely by myself took a year to accomplish and now that I've reached that point, I sell the boat! The past year was an amazing experience, being able to spend so much time onboard and live in a constant learning experience. It gives you the time to refine your skills and enjoy the nuances of sail trimming and navigation. It also give you time to reflect on your life looking past and to the future. Sailing truly is about the journey not the destination and learning this simple lesson has slowed my life down and given me a lot of joy. Meeting a vast array of incredible people from Sweden to the Mediterranean to the Caribbean and back again was very special too. Seeing how much Tracy and I enjoyed the sailing life helped us both realize we needed to do more of this in the future.

The sale was completed in September 2012 and Feelin' Good is now with her new owner in Malta with years of more adventure awaiting her. She'll take good care of her new owners as proudly as she did us. As Tracy and I watched her sail off for the first time without me at the helm, we felt a real sense of loss. Not just for the boat but for the daily life we would missing until the next boat comes along.

In the meantime, we'll cherish our memories, photos and videos of the wonderful times on HR-54 Feelin' Good and look forward to the future.