GTFOplan #51: Owner's First Hand Review of a Balance 482

IN THIS VIDEO:
We've finally moved aboard and wanted to share our beautiful boat with everyone by giving you a walk through of our 3 cabin owner's version of a Balance 482 catamaran. See the options we chose and why, and much, much more!
CURRENT LOCATION:
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ABOUT OUR CATAMARAN:
We love our new Balance 482 - it's a perfect size for a cruising couple to handle and is a great "balance" of performance and comfort. One of our favorite features is the excellent ventilation since we mostly live as "hookers" (aka at anchor) where the boat automatically turns into the wind so we stay cool and we don't need to battle mold. We also have starlink for easy off-grid life. Our 2400 watt solar panel array also means we rarely need to run an engine to charge our batteries.
ABOUT US:
We saved for a our future boat, Sold Everything that we owned, Shipped the rest in a container to Cape Town, South Africa, flew to Cape Town, South Africa airport, to explore South Africa including an amazing safari, touring around Cape Town, move onto a Balance 482 Catamaran, then sailed to St Helena, Ascension Island, Fernando de Naronha, Brazil, Martinique, Sint Maarten (Dutch and French), St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, Inagua, Crooked Island, Long Island, George Town, Staniel Cay, Eleuthera, Anegada, Bahamas, Cape Canaveral, St. Augustine Florida, USA, Matthews Virigina, Zimmerman's marine for a haul out, and more!
Both Dennis and Ann grew up military brats with Army fathers. Dennis (the Colonel) served 30 years in the US Army and his retirement pension helped us retire in our 50s. Ann (the ship's Captain) wrote Test Automation in Python and Java. Dennis and Ann met on Match.com where Ann had in her profile "Do you want to sail the world with me?"
Ann easily brought Dennis into sailing and he loved the GTFOplan of retiring early and sailing the world. After many years of saving, living on one income but earning two incomes, and cutting back on everything possible, they saved enough to buy a Balance 482.
Follow them as they get real about boat life and all the hassles of buying a new boat because we all know N.E.W. means Not Everything Works.
Kisses,
Dennis & Ann
PredictWind: forecast.predi...
Twitter: @GTFOplan
Facebook: / anndennis.snellikin.3
Instagram: / gtfoplan
RUclips: / gtfoplan
Email: [e-mail]

[@steve1966]

Thanks for the very in depth report!!! Be well.

[@GTFOplan]

Thanks Steve.

[@glennmeder1276]

This is a beautiful boat! Really happy for you guys! You can tell that you really did your research 😊

[@GTFOplan]

Thanks Glenn! We will have to meet up sometime so you can see her first hand!

[@glennmeder1276]

@@GTFOplan would absolutely love that!

[@GTFOplan]

Perfect! Let’s keep in touch. [e-mail] is the best way to reach us. We will be in the Chesapeake Bay for the summer.

[@kirkb3473]

Love it! Congrats guys and can’t wait to see her in person 🎉. Hurry up and get to the Caribbean!

[@GTFOplan]

Thanks Team Väster! Can’t wait to see you guys again either!

[@user-ch9if6px6r]

Hello, we met you in Dover.So happy you are settled in.

[@GTFOplan]

Thank you! It’s been quite the hectic past several months. Please remind us of your travel plans. We never ended up catching a hop.

[@kurtwacker4622]

Congratulations 🎉

[@GTFOplan]

Thank you!

[@bobf4765]

Thanks for the walk thru, nice looking boat! Just curious, how much weight did you save by not having a generator? Might want to think about moving your Jerry cans if your using the porthole over your head board. Once they get a little warmer they will expand, or if you have a sloppy fill... nobody likes fumes. 🤢Fair winds...

[@GTFOplan]

Thank for watching! You make an excellent point about possible fumes. For now, we won’t be using the cross ports as we’re under passage and won’t be able to open the mast locker hatch as we don’t want it to get soaked by errant waves.
Hard to say how much weight we saved without having a generator because we never researched it. But if I recall, marine generators can be around 300lbs.
We also saved around 150lbs by opting out of getting a washer/ dryer.

[@bobgilis5549]

Hi Guys, thanks for putting these video's online. I wast just wondering : can you move the mast camera to face forward or backward ? And can you zoon with it ? Wishing you great adventures !

[@GTFOplan]

Hi and thanks for watching! Unfortunately no. The cameras are all fixed and don’t have a zoom capability. That would be a nice feature though!

[@stellarj2103]

Well done A and D! Loved every second of this. Did you edit and release while on passage? Hopefully Schatze has her sea legs by now.

[@GTFOplan]

Thank you! Yes; thank you StarLink for making things like this possible. Although StarLink has been much more invaluable in helping solve maintenance issues.
Schatzi is getting there. She is no fan of the hull/ bridge deck wave slaps, so she keeps everyone company in the salon and cockpit during their watch.

[@Hal-Life]

Hi Ann and Dennis, I'm a big fan. I have a friend that I will be running his 482 (hull #5) it looks identical to Phil's #4 except the spars are not painted black) number 4 "In Balance" .Is they're a way I can PM you guys?

[@GTFOplan]

How awesome and thank you! Please say hi to Jono and Helga! Ping us on our email - [e-mail]. We’d love to chat!

[@Hal-Life]

We've got our fingers crossed as the sale is pending, I' send you a email soon. @@GTFOplan