When we showed up to start outfitting our boat, Iliad had already done our logo placement on the boat. It just didn't seem real when we walked up and saw it larger than life and so gorgeous!! Our logo was designed by the very talented songbird Jordyn Jackson, who also happens to be half of the fabulous musical duo of Flagship Romance. (Check out Flagship Romance online. We also use a LOT of their music in our videos. They are some serious talent!) So when did it really hit home? This logo, this boat, this life - halfway around the globe and seriously down under...
It really hit home on the day we completed commissioning for our brand new Iliad-62 Hull #1. Sol Searcher was a reality. She was ours.
“We hereby name you Sol Searcher...”
All the paperwork was done. REAMS of paperwork, back and forth zoom meetings with the company in Singapore that was helping us with getting our boat "flagged" in the southern hemisphere. (We went with the Cook Islands. Good standards = good regards from other ports of call.) Paperwork. Insurance forms. No one knew what, exactly, to do with yacht owners from America (that little place up and around the globe.) Radio licenses, dinghy registration, paperwork for every camera and piece of electronics, registrations. Oh, the paperwork. We gave thanks every step for Marcus Overman at Iliad Catamarans who held our hands, made multiple phone calls, faxes, video calls and emails on our behalf. He literally was our boating-fairy-godfather in this whole experience.
And all the things
Outfitting a brand spanking new boat is like outfitting a house. Cindy and Art, our friends and captain/first mates, helped us spend a lot of dough on all the things. Because we needed all the things. A camera to see at night? Done! A diving set up? Done!! Stinger Suits and all the gear? Done! Small kitchen appliances and dishware? Done! It was never ending. But when it did end, we had a boat that was now a home. We had comfortable mattresses and sheets. We had the proper shampoo and soap. We still had boat toilet paper, but well, there is NO arguing about certain things with the captain. His word is law. So no bananas, but lots of gummies. We. Were. Ready.
But first, the naming ceremony.
The owners and staff of Iliad all showed up. They brought flowers, champagne and munchies for us all to share. They made us feel very special and they did it in a quintessential Australian manner. We had a beautiful ceremony and said all the right things to properly name the boat and keep ourselves in Poseidon's favor. It was all good until I went to smash the bottle of champagne over the stern and put a little divot in the stainless. Apparently there is a knack to hitting the bottle over the boat. I'd say that next time, I will do better. But Sol Searcher may just be the end of the rainbow for us. At that moment, I looked up at our logo on the boat. Larger than life. It was real. We were on Sol Searcher. We were Sol Searcher. From that first conversation about branding we had come so far.
It all started from an idea for a journey, both outward and inward. From that came a name and from that came a logo. And an idea to take you all along on our journey. Let's go!!
Lovely