This video tour was put together by the folks at Iliad - it is the first tour of OUR boat, and bonus - it's professionally done! The models are just models - they are NOT US, everything else is Sol Searcher in her true and most pristine state. Marcus Overman of Iliad Catamarans goes over the boat in exquisite detail. Read on and please join him on this first look tour... the video is at the bottom of the page.
January 2023
Welcome to Sol Searcher. She is an Iliad 62 long range power catamaran, Hull #1. Not only is she beautiful (we are admittedly biased), she is almost everything we would ask for in a long range cruiser. If we custom built her. Which we did not. That's right, she literally fell into our lap this way!
“ We plan to travel the world on our lovely Iliad catamaran. With time and planning, we feel there is almost nowhere out of reach. That feeling of freedom is unbounded! ” ~Dee
Sol Searcher was built by the owners of Iliad catamarans to be their flagship model at boat shows. She had all the nice amenities that the owners of the company would have desired should she be their boat. However, they had already launched their 50' line and a 70 foot model and were quickly taking orders for their new lines: the Iliad 62 and Iliad 53. So when this first 62 was completed, with all it's little extras and add-on's, the company felt that having an in demand boat in inventory was keeping her from the voyages she was meant for. That became our lucky day.
It Started With A Phone Call From A Friend
If you knew Russ, you would know that this impressive Aussie Contractor/experienced catamaran sailor speaks with conviction and authority. "Dee," he said over the phone from his home in Australia on a Saturday night in summer 2022, "I found your boat." Russ knew that we were seriously looking for a unicorn. And he also knew that we probably wouldn't find it anywhere on the planet. The long range cruising catamarans are in such demand that the industry cannot keep up with them. We were convinced we would have to settle for a used boat while we slowly had ours built. But, in the middle of building his own long range cruiser, he had myriad contacts in the industry. He discovered that Iliad 62 Hull#1 was quietly going to be put up for sale at the Sydney Boat Show.
So we put aside everything on our schedule and high-tailed it over to Sydney. To say it was a whirlwind is to put it mildly. Bob and I are very methodical, measured folks who like to plan things out. But in the case of Sol Searcher, she simply presented an opportunity and we either jumped or lost out. I'm never one to be talked into a "deal" that is simply too good to pass up - I have a healthy bit of skepticism and just don't fall for that kind of spheal. But I also know that life only gives you so many brass rings to grasp. So we toured Hull #1 and poked, probed and asked all the questions. There was no pressure. But there was the perfect boat, all done and just waiting; our unicorn. Russ was right, she was the boat for us. She was the boat we would have built. Her fit and finish are incredible. And I am happy to say that during the on-boarding process, Iliad has been amazing to work with in getting all the little details right that go into making a boat truly yours.
I will be posting more videos of Hull #1 that show the progress as we groomed her into our Sol Searcher. We hope that you will enjoy and journey along with us by following us on social media. And give us a holler if your travels happen to bring you close to where we are!! We would love to say hi and meet you.
( #yachttour #yachtlife #iliad62 #SolSearcherCat #catamaranlife #IliadCatamarans #boatlife #longrangecatamaran #longrangecruiser #Iliad #offshoreboat #boattour )
A semi-spontaneous trip around the globe landed us in beautiful Sydney at the 2022 Sydney Boat Show. A good friend gave us a tip on the perfect power catamaran that was ready to be homed to the right couple. That couple was US (athough the couple in the video are models and thus, they are NOT us...)
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