Sailing with the Litzenbergers
About the Litzenbergers
We are Breena and Spencer (or Bee and Pickle if you watch our videos). We started sailing in our 20's and really loved it. In the past we would sail for seasons at a time and then sell the boat at the end of 2 seasons, to save on storage while we go back to work. It's led to us owning 7 sailboats and cruising a lot of differing coasts. Some times we've loved it and some times we've hated it, but we document it all for friends, family and now a great community of "Fries!" Most recently we bought our dream boat from our favorite wizards! This Rumba 41 will be our forever home and we can't wait for you all to see us get her out of Guatemala and onto the ocean!
Tarka
Tarka is our dream boat! She's a Rumba 41, yard built aluminum, sloop rigged sailboat. She has a swing keel and rudder, which means she draws 3 feet with everything up. When the centerboard and rudder is dropped, she draws 8 feet. She's yard built and we bought her in Rio Dulce, Guatemala.
Tarka was owned by our dear friends Jo and Steve and after 4 years of refitting her, Steve passed away in Rio Dulce, Guatemala. It was shocking to everyone and if you want to know more about Steve and Jo and how we got the vessel, check out our Wizards video. We feel like real stewards to Steve's boat and we can't wait to get her out on the ocean!
Here's a little about each of our previous vessels
Flapjack Octopus
Our Tartan 34c was one of our best valued boats we've bought. She had a, basically, new Beta marine engine and the best engine access! She was extremely tight, as far as livability goes, but she was a fast and sleek sailer! One of our favorite vessels we've owned, for sure!
Cambio
A 33'Bruce Roberts Spray design, we bought this beefy queen in Rio Dulce Guatemala and sailed her for two seasons in Belize and then onward to Maryland were we put her up for sale. She was steel and we are not welders, so it wasn't the perfect medium for us, but damn was she a comfortable, blue water boat!
Millennial Falcon
By far our least favorite boat, the Searunner 37! We were really disappointed with the trimaran and after sailing her from the top of Vancouver Island to San Fransisco, we cut our losses, sold her and headed to the land of cheap boats for a monohull! To see why we didn't like her, click here.
Emma
In an attempt to try a different travel method, we rebuilt this FJ40 Land Cruiser with the help of Spencer's Dad! And by rebuilt, I mean we assembled her from the frame up...every....bolt. It was a 2 year project with the intent to drive to South America. But we missed sailing so we stopped the trip in Guatemala and bought a boat instead.
Hedgehog
This adorable little nugget is a Westerly Windrush 25. She was our attempt to squeeze out an extra season of cruising with very little cash. We got her for $3,000, sailed her to the Bahamas and had a great time. She had a large outboard locker so her living space and cockpit really amounted to a cozy 22'. We were real close on that trip!
Lorax
Our first ever boat, an Irwin Citation, 30 feet in length. We knew nothing about sailing, boating or cruising when we bought this boat for $6,000 and sailed her to the Bahamas. I (Bee) cried everyday for the first month (not an exaggeration) but after getting used to the lifestyle and sailing we both loved it and couldn't imagine our life without sailing in it.