We met up with an excited Nestor and Yolanda at the Annapolis boat show this October. They were ready to put their order in for a Lagoon 42 sailing catamaran and brought along their family to share this exciting occasion with them! We have been talking to them via email for a while and helped them do the research and get answers to all their questions regarding boat ownership.
By the time we met them at the show, they had made up their minds about the boat, the yacht management program and the charter company they wanted to partner with. All we had to do then, was to put this on paper and make it official.
Nestor and Yolanda are a colorful couple; Nestor is a university professor at the University of Michigan and Yolanda, a gorgeous blonde decked out in colorful tattoos, is a physical therapist. Both of them have big personalities and strong opinions and they were on a mission to realize their dream of sailing around the world.
While we all gathered on a Lagoon 42, they signed the contracts and wrote the deposit check, the emotion and excitement clearly visible on their faces. Times like this is when we realize that we don’t just sell a boat, we sell dreams and that as their representatives, our responsibility to help them make the right choices in this transaction is important.
After all formalities were over and their Lagoon 42, “Blue Buddha” became a reality for them, we all did the high-fives, welcoming them to the sailing community. The family, including Yolanda’s Mom, Debbie then stepped out onto the foredeck of the Lagoon 42 for a little private ceremony. I noticed that they took a “family selfie” including a picture that they held up and when I asked them about it, Nestor had this story to tell:
“Several years ago we decided to pay it back to our parents by taking them on family vacations every year. We took them to Europe on cruises, and sailing in the BVI. Ron, Yolanda’s father, loved being on the water and after these trips, he became very excited about our plans to one day buy a boat and sail around the world. He worked hard and retired at 51 to live on a lake. Unfortunately, he passed away earlier this year after a long battle with cancer. In his honor, we were able to place the order for the Lagoon 42 on his birthday at the show. He would have turned 62.”
What a tearjerker! This was not the story I had expected to hear that day at the boat show and when they shared this personal story with us, I had to take a moment to compose myself. Later that day after the hubbub of the show died down, I stood there thinking just how privileged we are to be allowed to share these moments with so many people. One thing is for sure, they don’t stay strangers for long! Nestor and Yolanda and many like them go on to become our friends and sailing buddies for years to come. Congratulations and fair winds!
