In June we went down to FL for a reconnaissance mission. We had no plans to buy a boat, we just wanted to look at as many boats as possible in a week. We scheduled as many appointments with brokers as we could and continued to call brokers as we drove around.
One of the brokers we tried to contact was on vacation and appeared to be intoxicated when I called. he said he couldn't possibly show us the boat we wanted to see until later in the week. The next day he called back, was apologetic and asked to reschedule, but we were on the other side of the state by then.
That week we drove all over the state, saw a lot of boats, and found a marina we really liked. The problem was we didn't see any boats we could agree on. Each boat was going to require too much work, was too much money, was too small, too big, too not quite what each of us was looking for. So, that left us back where we began, we still knew what we wanted and now we knew what we didn't want. We knew that every boat is a compromise, but I always thought I'd have to compromise less and maybe Wendy would compromise more. Not sure I thought that out clearly.
There was one boat we hadn't been able to see and one day left open. We called up the drunk to see if we could meet to see the boat. He was more than happy to help this time. So, we drove down to Punta Gorda to see this one last boat.
The boat was a Pearson 424. A 42 foot monohull sloop. That means a single hull, one head sail and a mainsail. I'm not sure that clears anything up for non-sailors. Anyway, we went down to look at the boat. It was awesome. Really well taken care of, all the woodwork looked like it had just been refinished, the hull had just been painted, the propeller was glistening, polished brass, the engine sparkled. We both loved it, but we didn't want to rush anything.
On the drive back to my parents house we talked about all the boats we had seen. More and more we talked about the last one. Before we had finished the hour and a half drive we called the broker and placed an offer.
A month later we went down for the survey. The survey is like a home inspection, but a lot longer. The survey went great. We did see evidence of termites, but we didn't see any live ones. The previous owner explained that they had once had termites and gotten rid of them. Everything seemed to be in really good condition, except the standing rigging. That's the wires that hold the mast up. We had planned to replace that anyway, so no big deal. They agreed to a discount to replace the rigging and we had a deal. They were happy for a quick sale, we were happy for a good deal and the broker was happy to get a commission check.
We were so happy we forgot all about the definition of Cruising - Repairing your boat in exotic places...
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