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21. Serious issue – we can’t take our yacht to Barcelona, Spain as planned – YIKES!

Serious Issue

(Pictured above is my brother, Bryan and my mom)

Below is the email I sent my mother and brother right after I got some fairly unnerving news. To put things into context, we are right in the middle of moving out of our house and into temporary accommodation. We are days away from flying down to Palma, Mallorca to buy our 56′ yacht, take possession of it and sail it to Barcelona, Spain – a 12 to 17 hour sail.

Serious issue – we can’t take our yacht to Barcelona, Spain as planned – YIKES!

Hey Mom & Bry,

I’m at the coffee shop with 5% battery left on my Ipad. No internet connection or phone at home. Everything packed up…filling the truck now to take to the flat tomorrow. We exchanged yesterday and complete tomorrow on the house sale.

We had a serious issue that hit us yesterday… Spain agreed to charge us X thousands for tax…and they’ve now decided against it. They want to double our tax liability. If we do that, we don’t have any money left to sail. The issue is that we must sail the boat, once we buy it, to a country where we pay tax OR find a tax haven (non-EU country).

So Gibraltar is the closest tax haven…I have no idea where Gibraltar is!

Apparently, we can moor it in Gibraltar and then do some sort of deal with Malta so we’ve been told. It’s a bit nuts. From the sounds of it, Malta will allow us to pay a lower rate of tax…and possibly allow us to pay it over the course of the year, but we’ll need to go to Malta at some point to do paperwork (with the boat). That’s not an issue – Malta is below Italy and we’ll sail by it anyway… We think we might have to fly a Maltese flag rather than a British flag…What a faff. I just need to keep going with the flow…going with the flow…

We’re trying to get in touch with our skipper who is going to help us to sail to Barcelona to see if he can change to Gibraltar. The difference is a few days so we’re not sure if he can do it. The crazy thing is that once we buy the boat, we must go to an independent country (from the EU). I suppose I just need to realize that my adventure has started and roll with it. I’m just afraid that Sim and I will have to sail the boat to Gibraltar by ourselves and that scares me.

I’ve only done one night sail and never alone.

Four days of non-stop sailing to start off with are way out of my comfort zone…and what do I do with Sienna while we’re sailing?!? Might bring Keith (father-in-law). Yikes. I will keep you posted. Please send positive vibes that our skipper can get us to Gibraltar!

And always remember that we will always be safe.

Bry – I will get to North Carolina on the 2nd of January! No matter what, we will get there…

Big love,

Me

The next video that we did is done. Check that out here: Extra: Sell Up and Sail Away Video 2 – Our thoughts, feelings and move day!

Next Chapter: 22. The day before we purchase our 56′ Oyster

Previous Chapter: 20. A lesson on stopping the ‘what-if’s’ from taking over my life!

Or…if you’d like to carry on reading all about our journey from selling up and sailing away, you can purchase my book, ‘Changing Lifestyles – Trading the Rat Race in For A Sail Around The World,’

Changing LifestylesREADER REVIEW
On Amazon. 5 Star Review!
"Interested in The Sailing Lifestyle? Are your needing just one more reason to change your life for the better, Just buy this book. I actually bought this for my wife(Workaholic) last year. It was the deciding factor for us to change things 😉 , After she read Kim's Book & we watched a few episodes of Sailing Britican (& a few others) we realized there is more to life than the rat race.....!
Thanks." Jon D.
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Changing Lifestyles: Trading in the Rat Race for a Sail Around The World (my book). Chapters:

  • 1. That’s it – I’m selling everything and sailing around the world!

  • 2. Oh crap – Are we healthy enough to sail around the world?

  • 3. House sold, price on yacht almost negotiated – just need temporary housing now!

  • 4. Before I sell up and sail away I need to clean out my closet (in many ways)

  • 5. Getting the boat of our dreams – will we or won’t we?

  • 6. Negotiations 56 Oyster Yacht have finished but not without massive pain

  • 7. Everything was going well until we got this phone call…

  • 8. Quick, quick – we need to sell our current boat. We need a place to live. We need to…

  • 9. My new normal and dealing with giving up all our possessions

  • 10. Going from sailing Selene to selling Selene so we could afford to buy our 56′

  • 11. Sea trials and the survey – the night before we meet our dream yacht

  • 12. Hours before we meet our new yacht…our new home!

  • 13. Sea trials on the Oyster 56 were a success – we love her!

  • 14. Getting a yacht lifted out for a Marine Survey

  • Extra: Sell Up and Sail Away Video – Sea Trails & Survey

  • 15. After sea trials and the survey I ran a marathon (accidentally)

  • 16. What does homeschooling, the paleo diet, writing, and photography have to do with sailing?

  • 17. I’m so freaking frustrated – the world is broken

  • 18. Saying goodbye to my old routines and old lifestyle

  • 19. Life has slowed way down – is it the calm before the storm?

  • 20. A lesson on stopping the ‘what-if’s’ from taking over my life!

  • 21. Serious issue – we can’t take our yacht to Barcelona, Spain as planned – YIKES!

  • Extra: Sell Up and Sail Away Video 2 – Our thoughts, feelings and move day!

  • 22. The day before we purchase our 56′ Oyster

  • 23. My first trip on our new yacht – Dolphins included!

  • 24. Feeling excited, sick, and in awe are not mutually exclusive when sailing on the seas

  • 25.Things got worse

  • Extra: Sell Up and Sail Away Video 3 – Palma Mallorca to Gibraltar

  • 26. Sell up and sail away preparations – we successfully took possession of your new yacht

  • 27. Preparation for our around the world sailing trip couldn’t get more exciting!

  • 28. Two months to go before we set sail for our world adventure

  • 29. We got a gun, but not the kind you’re probably thinking of

  • 30. The contrast of sailing around the world and cancer

  • Extra: The reason I decided to sell up and sail away (video)

  • 31. Courses, becoming British, putting our remaining possessions on a pallet and what else?

  • Extra. No – we did not win the lottery!

  • 32. Less than 3 weeks to go before we sail off into the sunset

  • 33. Ten days to go before we set sail on our grand adventure

  • 34. Will this sailing adventure turn me into a dreadlocked, pot smoking, whale saver?

  • 35. In 2 days we will set sail around the world sailing adventure

  • 36. Leaving Gosport England today to start on our around the world sailing adventure

  • 37. Life aboard our new yacht with the BBC, Daily Mail and Times in tow

  • 38. Feeling amazing, scared, overwhelmed and useless

  • 39. Sailing Gibraltar To Malta

  • 40. I’m honoured to introduce Loryn Bennett – Britican’s Chef

  • 41. I still can’t even believe this is happening

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