This is sort of Range Rover related so I'll put it here... (Stan, move it if I've put it in the wrong place...)

Some will know the saga, some asked for updates... It all started back in 2013 when we spent some time in Grenada and met a couple who had been snowbirds for 18 years, spending our winters in the Caribbean on a boat... we had always talked of buying a property abroad when the kids moved out.. but now a boat seemed a better idea as you can move your home easily...

So, with careful planning, downsizing and getting rid of Fatty (that's the RR link..!!) we have been able to retire at 55 and pursue our dream, 4 years of reading, planning, reading more and learning all about boat systems and we were ready to pull the trigger

We knew nothing about boats, a pedalo and a cross channel ferry were about our only experiance so we set a low budget for a boat, something we were willing to gamble and won't cry too much if it's a folly...

So last month we went to Florida, we saw a lot of old tyred boats, some bodged up heaps and some nice, well looked after boats, one stood out head and shoulders above the rest...

Meet "Barefoot Lady" a fully refitted 1976 Hatteras 42ft Long Range Cruiser (LRC) A full displacement solid fiberglass hull tank of a boat, these were seriously over engineered back in the day and fitted out inside in solid teak and mahogany, the hull and non moving parts are 41 years old, just about everything else has been rebuilt or replaced in the last three years including full rebuilds of the two 4-53 Detroit Diesel two stroke engines and the velvet drive hydraulic transmissions.

Bloody hell Pete, that’s one hell of a floater 🙂

Adventures await mate.

 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport

Wow. Just wow.

Good luck to you, Sir.

Enjoy a lot - I’m sure you will.

Look forward to reading your adventures on the high seas. What do I put here then?

I thought I was brave / slightly insane selling our house and buying a ski apartment - you're taking it to a whole new level

This is awesome. Well done for grabbing life by the balls and just going for it.

Please keep this thread updated as I'd love to read about your adventures.

What a great story Pete! It sounds like you have worked really hard to plan your early retirement and pursue your dreams so hats off to you mate.

I am sure you are going to have some excellent adventures on Barefoot Lady so please keep us updated

Cheers, Mark

Excellent.
How do you plan to split your time between UK and USA? Are there rules on time spent there? Previously..
Vogue SE TD6
Defender 90 2.4
Defender 110 TD5
Vogue 3.5 EFI

Wow - way to go 2009 Stornoway Grey Vogue TDV8

Looks like start of a great adventure!
According to a (now poor) boat owning ex-work colleague, boat = Bring Over Another Thousand - lol. Paul,
2001 Discovery 2 TD5, 211,000 miles & climbing
2006 FFRR TDV8 Vogue 151,000 miles & now sold
Member of Midland (Land) Rover Owners Club, www.mroc.co.uk

Very nice - a lovely vessel! I hope you enjoy the new life with her.

We don't see many Hatteras in the UK, but I keep admiring similar trawler type yachts from Nordhavn, Fleming, etc., and thinking how wonderful they must be to live on. But I do love sailing though, so I would be sad to give up the sails completely.

Maybe one day in the future though - proper coastal and ocean going power vessels are becoming more appealing to me.

I look forward to hearing more about your adventures.

Congratts Pete... Keep a berth next to her for me pal

Plan on doing something quite similar in another 8-10yrs

Thanks chaps, I'll start a blog when we find out if it is the only Barefoot Lady on the ships registry in the UK, it as to be registered with a unique name... I'll post a link on here but it's not really suitable for fullfatrr.com...

Contraband, When we go back to the USA we will get a cruising permit which allows the boat to remain in US waters for 12 months, we could do it on an ESTA as you get 90 days in the US but we plan to obtain a B2 visitors visa which lets you in the US for 10 years... we do plan on heading down the Caribbean so you then just comply with local rules, most places are happy to have cruisers as long as you pay the fees...!!!

Pawl, yes mostly hear it as Break Out Another Thousand, a thousand dollars is also called "one boat unit" most things cost several, like most things though, the largest proportion is labour, I will do all the repairs and maintenance so hopefully the cost will be bearable...

paulbrown22 There are a few Hatteras in the Med but not many, the Hatteras 42LRC Mk1 which is Barefoot Lady is the original "trawler" type full displacement boat that is now very popular and made by lots of manufacturers, she is hull number 5 of 23 Mk1's made, her hull is 13 layers of hand laid GRp and is about one and a half inches thick, most are made cheaply with a thin GRP covering over a core material, usually balsa to keep weight down, the Hatteras LRC is very heavy for her size and as such has excellent sea keeping ability, it's why they get refitted instead of scrapped... We did look at a sail boat but with a damaged spine, two new hips and a new knee I'm not fit enough to sail a boat large enough to live on..

Craig You'll have to sell that "toy" you have to fund one...!!! Pete
__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

9mph to the Caribbean... how long will the trip take?

That’s an adventure on its own  What do I put here then?

It's a few weeks to pootle down Florida, across to the Bahamas and then head south... no rush though, the journey is the adventure, whenever you get somewhere you only have to think of somewhere else to go...!!!

We fancy doing The Great Loop after a few years down south..

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/great-loop.html Pete
__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Ooh, boaty things Lovely.

You might like to join the YBW forum, its extremely active and loads of advice and support (and banter)
http://www.ybw.com/forums/index.php

I'm on there as Scala. Graham

____
Gone: 10MY L320 RR Sport HSE, Ipanema Sand
Gone: 20MY Jaguar iPace HSE, Silicon Silver
Gone: 17MY RR Evoque SE Tech, Loire Blue
Gone: 08MY Discovery 3 XS, Stornoway Grey
Gone: 07MY FFRR TDV8 Vogue, Stornoway Grey