Camdeboo, a 50' steel hull sloop, was built in 1990 by Samson Engineering, Cape Town, South Africa and is one of eight Lavranos-designed 15m cruising sloops.  She was raced from Cape Town to Portugal, cruised the Mediterranean and eventually was sold, ending up first in Texas, then Florida and finally in California where we found her in October 2004. 

The purchase was completed on March 29, 2005 and we sailed the boat north to our home port of Victoria in June that year.  The next eleven months were spent re-fitting Camdeboo for our 15-month offshore passage to the South Pacific.

Our departure in May 2006 brought to completion four years of intense preparation for this once-in-a-lifetime journey.  It began in 2002 when we (Campbell and Jennifer) decided to turn a dream into reality after we attended an offshore cruising seminar in Seattle.  It was followed by joining the local Bluewater Cruising Association (BCA), attending BCA and Power Squadron training courses (basic boating, piloting, weather, sail repair, celestial nav, HAM radio, diesel engine maintenance, etc), reading all manner of offshore cruising books, talking to experienced offshore cruisers, and, perhaps most importantly, gaining some offshore sailing experience. 

Jennifer did this by sailing with 10 other women from Hawaii to San Francisco aboard the sail training vessel Alaska Eagle.  Campbell sailed with cruising friends aboard Sunstone from Victoria to California and he also participated in the Van Isle 360, an around Vancouver Island yacht race.  Alastair gained what experience he could (somewhat more difficult being based in Calgary) and also did a wilderness first aid course and diesel maintenance.  Our daughters and Alex also learned to sail, completing a number of CYA courses in the summers leading up to our departure.

After successfully crossing to New Zealand in 2006, the hard decision was made to sell Camdeboo in the South Pacific rather than sail her back to the Pacific Northwest.  In the meantime, we spent a second season in the tropics with new crew, enjoying new sights and new experiences.  Life is never quite what one expects, however:  the sale fell through and now Camdeboo remains in the family, at least for a while longer!