Hello and Ahoy!
We’re the Bendeles, John and Juanita (Spoon), aboard
our 38 foot catamaran, Tee Time. We came to cruising
by way of Colorado, which gives you some idea of the
extent of our sailing experience. John is originally from
San Antonio and Juanita is a Southern girl
from North Carolina. We have lived and worked
in Colorado Springs for over 20 years.
After 13 years in the Army, John left to run several
successful businesses, the last being a car rental operation. Juanita worked for the Woodland Park
Schools as a media specialist, before retiring last year.
We decided to try the cruising life style after looking at all our options for retirement. Both of us love the
water, like to be warm, and Juanita was interested in returning to the east coast. We owned property in
Florida, but after visiting it, decided we wanted to be even closer to the water, so sailing seemed like a
good compromise. Oh yes, we both enjoy golf, hence the name Tee Time, and wanted to play lots of
different courses year round.
John had been on a dive trip some years earlier on a fifty foot catamaran and had fallen in love with that
type of boat, so he began researching catamarans, trying to determine the best features, the best
builders, and what we could afford. At that time we were sure we could not afford a new Cat, so John
searched the Internet for used catamarans. One site he found was for a company named 2Hulls, based in
Ft. Lauderdale. 2Hulls deals mainly in used Cats.In February of 2004, we went to the Miami Boat Show, for
the purpose of gathering information and looking at used Cats. We met 2Hulls representative, Carol
Robinson, there who was aboard a 50 foot catamaran, built by a relatively new builder called Admiral
Yachts.
After almost a week of looking at new and used Cats, making an offer on one, which fortunately was
rejected, Carol suggested that we have a talk with Admiral owner, David Bird, about his 38 foot line of
catamarans. There was no Admiral 38 at the show, so we had not been on one, but we had been on
plenty of others, so we knew a 38 foot would be a good size for us. But could we afford it? We thought not,
until we began going over what is included in the Executive version of the Admiral 38.
We knew from our research that there is a base price for most boats, then you must add on features that
make the boat comfortable and well equipped. Those add-ons can run the price up to a hundred
thousand dollars over the base price. We assumed this was the same with an Admiral, which would put it
out of our price range. As we began to look at the spec sheet, however, we discovered that everything we
wanted and more was included in the Executive price.
When we left Miami in February, we had purchased a new Admiral 38, equipped with everything we
wanted. What we were yet to discover was that we had also purchased was, what we now call, the Admiral
Experience.
Our introduction to the Admiral Experience began in June 2004, when we arrived in Cape Town, South
Africa to watch the building of our catamaran, Tee Time.
We’re the Bendeles, John and Juanita (Spoon), aboard
our 38 foot catamaran, Tee Time. We came to cruising
by way of Colorado, which gives you some idea of the
extent of our sailing experience. John is originally from
San Antonio and Juanita is a Southern girl
from North Carolina. We have lived and worked
in Colorado Springs for over 20 years.
After 13 years in the Army, John left to run several
successful businesses, the last being a car rental operation. Juanita worked for the Woodland Park
Schools as a media specialist, before retiring last year.
We decided to try the cruising life style after looking at all our options for retirement. Both of us love the
water, like to be warm, and Juanita was interested in returning to the east coast. We owned property in
Florida, but after visiting it, decided we wanted to be even closer to the water, so sailing seemed like a
good compromise. Oh yes, we both enjoy golf, hence the name Tee Time, and wanted to play lots of
different courses year round.
John had been on a dive trip some years earlier on a fifty foot catamaran and had fallen in love with that
type of boat, so he began researching catamarans, trying to determine the best features, the best
builders, and what we could afford. At that time we were sure we could not afford a new Cat, so John
searched the Internet for used catamarans. One site he found was for a company named 2Hulls, based in
Ft. Lauderdale. 2Hulls deals mainly in used Cats.In February of 2004, we went to the Miami Boat Show, for
the purpose of gathering information and looking at used Cats. We met 2Hulls representative, Carol
Robinson, there who was aboard a 50 foot catamaran, built by a relatively new builder called Admiral
Yachts.
After almost a week of looking at new and used Cats, making an offer on one, which fortunately was
rejected, Carol suggested that we have a talk with Admiral owner, David Bird, about his 38 foot line of
catamarans. There was no Admiral 38 at the show, so we had not been on one, but we had been on
plenty of others, so we knew a 38 foot would be a good size for us. But could we afford it? We thought not,
until we began going over what is included in the Executive version of the Admiral 38.
We knew from our research that there is a base price for most boats, then you must add on features that
make the boat comfortable and well equipped. Those add-ons can run the price up to a hundred
thousand dollars over the base price. We assumed this was the same with an Admiral, which would put it
out of our price range. As we began to look at the spec sheet, however, we discovered that everything we
wanted and more was included in the Executive price.
When we left Miami in February, we had purchased a new Admiral 38, equipped with everything we
wanted. What we were yet to discover was that we had also purchased was, what we now call, the Admiral
Experience.
Our introduction to the Admiral Experience began in June 2004, when we arrived in Cape Town, South
Africa to watch the building of our catamaran, Tee Time.
