Kelaerin is a variant of the classic Peterson Cruising Cutter which includes the Kelly-Peterson 44 and the Formsa 46.  It is known as an Omega 45.  It's provenance is the Smith-Herbert Yacht Brokerage in Seattle which had 15 boats built to the F46 mold  What makes them rare and valuable is that the construction was under the direct supervision of an American surveyor who lived in Taiwan during the entire production run. There are a lot of subtle but important differences such as Bomar hatches and Australian hardware.  More attention was paid to the quality of construction when compared to the "parent" F46. Kelaerin is hull number 11 of the Omegas.

Jim and I have owned Kelaerin for 30 years. We purchased her in 1991 in Seattle and within just a few months we headed south with our 2 daughters, ages 13 and 11. That trip took us down the coast of the US, Mexico, and then to Costa Rica and through the Panama Canal. A few years later we sailed to Puerto Rico and back to Florida. In 2002 we both quit our jobs and headed to the Mediterranean where we spent 4 years cruising and wintering in ports like Almerimar, Spain; Fiumicino, Italy; Marmaris, Turkey. We did a summer cruise of the Eastern Levante visiting Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. The Canadian travel program "Distant Shores" filmed our group and our boat can be seen in the opening footage as it sails by "Two Step". Some of the same group joined us the next year for a cruise of the Black Sea.

We then decided to continue east and completely circumnavigated the globe eastabout. We sailed through the Suez and wintered in Hurghada before proceeding down the Red Sea stopping in Eritrea and Yemen. We crossed the Indian Ocean and spent several months in Mumbai, India before continuing eastwards to Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Palau, PNG, Solomons, Vanuatu, Fiji, NZ. We spent two cyclone seasons in NZ. Heading back to "home" in the Pacific Northwest we stopped in French Polynesia and Hawaii.

Kelaerin had some unplanned excitement (to put it mildly) when a storm brewed just 150 miles from completing our circumnavigation of 17 years. The waves built all night long to 30 footers but Kelaerin handled them well, sailing with the windvane. In the early hours of June 17, 2018, we were hit by a large rogue wave that broke on the boat and then lifted Kelaerin into the curl. For a time we were upside down. We did not do a 360 but came back up within seconds. The wave had washed our dinghy and lifeboat overboard and very nearly took Jim with it. We had tons of water enter the boat and lost our SSB. We set the EPIRB off hoping for a pump to help us get rid of the water but when the USCG arrived on the scene 6 hours after the incident and 4 hours after we set off the EPIRB, they decided we needed to get off the boat to tend to injuries and hypothermia.

Remarkably Kelaerin sailed on by herself and like a loyal family dog made her way south with the currents and wind until 6 weeks later the USCG spotted her and towed her into Ft. Bragg. Jim and I spend the next 9 months fixing her and getting her back to our standards.

Kelaerin is a special boat. We have never thought of her as a possession, or an asset, but as practically a member of the family. We hate to have to sell her but our age and health are catching up to us and we feel we can no longer do her justice. She needs to have a new, young, invigorated family that wants to take her back out to sea and journey the world again. If we were 20 years younger we would not hesitate to sail off again, maybe circumnavigating westabout this time.