Members' Online Book: How To Buy a Cruising Boat, Chapter 11 of 39

Refit #3, Giving a Tough Old Ocean Greyhound a New Purpose

Andy Schell Published May 9, 2016 19 comments Updated February 12, 2019

South bound in the ARC Caribbean 1500 rally.

Southbound in the ARC Caribbean 1500 rally.

Mia and I bought Isbjorn, a 1972 Sparkman & Stephens Swan 48, before we sold Arcturus. For a brief period we irresponsibly owned two boats...and one house. Arcturus sold in September of 2015, only a few weeks after the house sold, so we’re back to being a homeless, one-boat family.

A Business

We bought Isbjorn as a platform on which to run offshore passage charters through our business 59-North Ltd, hence the big upgrade from a simple 35-footer to a huge 48-footer. Indeed, Isbjorn is a full three times heavier than Arcturus, displacing some 36,000 pounds.

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Meet the Author

Andy Schell

Andy grew up sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and spent a year cruising Bahamas with his family. He met Mia on a backpacking trip in New Zealand in 2006, and the two have been seeking adventures together ever since. They've logged over 70,000 bluewater miles and have crossed the Atlantic a combined nine times (5 for Mia, 4 for Andy). Andy and Mia share their love of offshore sailing by taking paying crew on voyages on their Swan 48 "Isbjorn" and through their wildly popular podcast On The Wind Andy & Mia are based in Sweden when they're off the boat & love endurance sports!

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