Does everybody remember Eli and Sara Botrell? A year ago October the Northern California couple responded to a story in ‘Lectronic for the Islander 36 Geja, which had been cruised most of the way around the world by Dick and Shirley Sandys of Palo Alto. After Dick died, Shirley put the boat up for sale, where is, as is. She just happened to be in Spain, and the price was just $10,000 to move the boat quickly.

Sorely tempted to buy the boat ourselves, we announced that it would be a great deal for a young couple wanting to have a low-cost cruising fling before continuing on with their lives. Because they were quick, the Bottrells, a young couple indeed looking for an inexpensive cruising fling before continuing on with their lives, quickly made an offer and got the boat.

How did it turn out? "My wife and I recently returned home after seven months of sailing the Med," writes Eli. "The trip was incredible, and we’re extremely pleased that we made the decision to drop everything and go cruising."

We’ll have a long report from the Bottrells in the February 1 — not January 1 — issue but, other than a temporary problem with the autopilot, the boat was trouble-free. They did, however, do quite a bit on her before setting out.

With the couple about to charge into ‘real life’ mode, they’re putting the boat up for sale, where is, as is, for $20,000. She just happens to be up a river near Pisa. True, it’s twice the price they paid for the boat, but they did a number of improvements, and the price may or may not include an inflatable and outboard.

If you see any spots on the screen, it’s because we’re drooling again. Let’s see, if we got three other partners, that would be only $5,000 each — for a boat just a short distance from Capri and Elba, and not all that far from Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Spain and France! To be fair, we’ll give everyone until the New Year to do a deal on the boat. If she’s not sold by then, we don’t believe we’ll be able to stop ourselves.

If interested, email the couple. But don’t wait, because a lot of sailors will see it as the perfect present for under the tree — figuratively speaking, of course.

Bonnie Russell of San Diego alerts us to the fact that the fishermen — and there are not many of them — on the chic island of St. Barth in the French West Indies have instituted a blockcade of the harbor at Gustavia to prevent the big yachts from coming in and out of port, or even ships from unloading fuel. The fishermen are upset about the high price of fuel. And, trust us, fuel costs about twice as much in St. Barth as it does here in the States.

The Bartians are an independent lot. A number of years ago when the French wanted to actually start collecting taxes from them, and threatened to send in troops on airplanes, the residents crowded the runway so the planes couldn’t land.

What makes the fishermen’s strategy effective is that the spots on the Charles de Gaulle Quay in Gustavia are the most coveted in the Caribbean during New Year’s. Ronald ‘Revlon’ Perlman’s 190-ft Ultima III, for example, has had the prime inside position for the last dozen years or so. But it’s not easy to get one. There are no reservations. Instead, you have to have your mini-mega yacht — 200 feet is the maximum lenth — in position on December 1. From then on, your boat can leave for the day — although it costs about $600 in diver’s fees to get the anchor rodes uncrossed — but your boat must be back in by 5 p.m. If not, you’re moved to the bottom of the list. That means the folks who paid hundreds of thousands to be on the quay on New Year’s are going to be pissed!

It’s hard to tell how this is going to play out, because these mini-mega yachts are responsible for boatloads of money pouring into the local economy. After all, who else is going to pay $65 for a bowl of cauliflower soup at the Francoise Plantation? On the other hand, fishermen, farmers and the like have always had big support from the French public. But this is probably going to be too much.

According to Bonnie Russell, the Page Six gossip feature in The New York Times reported that the blockcade prevented movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and his new bride from entering or leaving the harbor. They had chartered the big yacht owned by the ex-wife of Marc Rich, the billionaire crook that Bill Clinton famously pardoned at the end of his second term.